Emmanuel Macron surfs on environmental transphobia and plays into the hands of the far right

On Tuesday 18 June, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, was traveling to Finistère, on the island of Sein, to commemorate the 84th anniversary of the Appeal of 18 June 1940. Surrounded by journalists, Emmanuel Macron took the opportunity to discuss at the next legislative elections, denounce the program of the RN, unreasonable from a financial point of view according to him, but also destroy that of the New Popular Front, sending back to back (therefore on equal terms) the left and the far right party.

Among the criticisms leveled at the left’s program, Emmanuel Macron denounced its nature “immigrationist”but also punished some proposals that he judges “absolutely ridiculous like changing sex in city hall”. Words that fail to be heard, especially in a context in which transphobia and hatred towards minorities are more present than ever in the public, media and political space.

Emmanuel Macron navigates environmental transphobia for political purposes

These comments were particularly shocking. Yes, because they are taking a dangerous shortcut: the program of the left proposes it“authorize the change of civil status freely and free of charge in front of the civil status officer”, which is significantly different. On X, the mayor of Tilloy-Lez-Marchiennes, Marie Cau, corrected the president’s comment:

Don’t make caricatures, we don’t want to change sex in the city hall, but to change the gender designation on our documents so we can live in peace, without being discriminated against and attacked. Nothing ridiculous, just respect for people’s privacy and identity as indicated by the European Court of Human Rights, which is a well-known far-left organization.

Marie Cau, X, June 18, 2024.

Then because they mark a strong break with the president’s position two years ago on the subject, as described in Figaro. During the campaign, Emmanuel Macron supported the magazine Stubborn quite the opposite: ” People who engage in a transition process must be respected in their choice and their lives must not be made more complex by unnecessary administrative procedures.”

This turning point is not trivial. The last few months have been marked by a resurgence of transphobic discourse in the political and media space, particularly during the debates around the LR bill aimed at banning gender transitions for minors, finally adopted by the Senate last May. Anaïs Perrin-Prevelle, director of the Outtrans association, denounced this text, among the " most restrictive in the world regarding the care of trans minors ".

In the political and associative spheres we were obviously outraged by the president's statements on Sunday which played into the hands of the RN. “In the midst of a transphobic offensive, this is irresponsible and disgusting. The far right no longer needs to campaign. Macron does the job,” thus condemned the outgoing LFI MP Clémence Guetté “Minorities in the race for power”.

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