From ANSA of 06.23.04
FRANCE: MINISTERS GIVE YES TO PROPOSED LAW AGAINST HOMOPHOBIA. CHIRAC SAYS NO TO SEXIST HATRED AND VIOLENCE
(ANSA) – PARIS, JUNE 23 – The French Council of Ministers has voted "yes" to a bill banning sexism and homophobia. Anyone who insults gays and lesbians again risks a year in prison and a €45,000 fine.
This new law, effectively a tightening of the one that has existed since 1881, must be "implemented with the greatest possible vigor and vigilance," Chirac stated. "The time has come to put an end to this wave of sexist hatred and violence.".
Discrimination against "sexual minorities" is an increasingly alarming scourge in France, growing in parallel with an equally visible trend: anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.
Although not particularly sensitive to the condition of homosexuals, the centre-right government led by Jean-Pierre Raffarin has decided on a crackdown that includes severe sanctions: the courts will be able to inflict up to a year in prison and a 45,000 euro fine on anyone who
allows you to insult gays and lesbians.
This decree is "essential, a symbol of equality, respect, and protection of citizens," underlined today the President of the Republic, Jacques Chirac.
The French National Federation of the Press (FNPF) has a strongly opposed opinion, deeming the proposed law "a useless and dangerous text". "Defamation and insults against homosexuals are punishable at both civil and criminal level by a law in force
since 1881’ underlined Xavier Ellie, president of the association.
A decree that, according to him, by restricting freedom of expression, could also compromise "freedom of the press and information." "We will be forced to resort to self-censorship.".
The ban on homophobia represents a first and important victory for the numerous gay associations in France. The fight against sexual discrimination will be the cornerstone of the massive "lesbian, gay, bi, and transgender pride march" (until last year called Gay Pride) scheduled for next Saturday in Paris.
The issue of tolerance towards "sexual minorities" has returned to the forefront in France in recent weeks, following two events in particular: the violent attack on May 19 in Marmande against a quiet gay civil servant, beaten by three young men shouting "Sale pede!" (dirty pederast), and the controversial wedding of a homosexual couple – the first ever in France – officiated last Saturday by Green Party leader Noel Mamere in his capacity as mayor of Begles.
From AGI of 06.23.04
Homophobia: Paris approves bill, jail time for those who insult it
The French government's Council of Ministers has approved a previously announced bill that imposes severe penalties for offensive statements against homosexuals. The legislative proposal, if passed by Parliament, would punish with one year's imprisonment and a €45,000 fine any "incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence based on prejudices regarding sex or sexual orientation." One of the bill's innovative aspects is that, for the first time, discrimination based on sexual orientation will be considered on a par with racial discrimination. President Jacques Chirac emphasized that the legislator's intention is "to put a stop to these very serious acts of discrimination." Justice Minister Dominique Perben added that the bill, which Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin had long promised, owes much to the case of Sebastian Nouchet, a gay man from Noeux-les-Mines, northern France, whose home was burned down by unknown assailants. "In a certain sense, it could be called the Nochet law," said the Minister of Justice.
From "La Repubblica" of 06.24.04
Paris, homophobia punished with prison
An advanced law for Europe
PARIS – The French government's Council of Ministers has approved a bill against sexism and homophobia, which provides for up to one year in prison and a €45,000 fine for any "incitement to discrimination, hatred, or violence based on prejudice based on sex or sexual orientation." France thus becomes, along with Sweden, the only EU country to have adopted a specific law against homophobia. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who had long promised to tighten the law, in force since 1881, reiterated his commitment last February when a thirty-five-year-old gay man, Sebastian Nouchet, ended up in a coma after being attacked and set on fire by unknown assailants.
From "Il Corriere della Sera" of June 22, 2004 by Stefano Montefiori
Six months in prison for anyone who insults a gay man
French Prime Minister Raffarin speaks out against "discriminatory statements based on gender." Civil associations protest: "It's electoral opportunism."«
Paris
"Homosexuals to the stake," was written on the signs held by Le Pen's followers during the demonstrations against civil unions (PACs), and the police could only stand by and watch. Tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m., keeping an old promise, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin will present to the Council of Ministers a bill against "discriminatory statements based on sex or sexual orientation." According to the law approved (not before the end of the year), a slogan inciting violence against homosexuals will land its author a year in prison and a €45,000 fine. A simple homophobic insult will be punished with six months in prison and a €22,500 fine.
Six years after the "pro-homosexual militantism" denounced by Bernadette Chirac, and just a few weeks after the condemnation of the gay marriage celebrated in Bègles by Green mayor Noël Mamère, Raffarin is taking action to protect homosexuals. On Thursday morning, at 8:30, the prime minister will host a breakfast in Matignon for representatives of the associations—who may in the future be civil parties—to explain the project's contents. This is a long-awaited opening, for which Raffarin cannot, however, expect much recognition. Many doubts—from the right and the left, among gays and non-gays—surround his initiative. First and foremost, the suspicion of electoral opportunism. The path was paved in April 2002 by then-presidential candidate Jacques Chirac in a famous interview with the homosexual magazine Têtu: "The sanctions already in place against racism must be extended to homophobia." After the election, nothing more. The bill was only discussed again before the last European elections, when Raffarin was trying to win back some gay votes for the center-right (estimates, naturally imprecise, put the number between half a million and two million in France). Thus, at next Saturday's Gay Pride parade, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender people have already decided to march under the slogan "Enough hypocrisy, equality now." "Raffarin's bill has been announced several times, then forgotten, then pulled out of the hat again before the elections," says Alain Piriou, spokesperson for the Inter-LGBT coordination group. "There's no credible timetable." And then, critics say, the Raffarin government first rejected gay marriage, admitting an inequality of rights based on sexuality, and then deployed a legal arsenal to repress discrimination that it itself helped perpetuate.
Many MPs from the ruling UMP party don't share the prime minister's enthusiasm. And even on the left, where both Socialist leader Hollande and the "grand old man" Jospin condemn gay marriage, there are concerns. This is also because, according to Parisian lawyer Christophe Bigot, a specialist in press law, Raffarin's proposal risks seriously limiting freedom of expression: Jospin, who criticizes same-sex marriage, could be accused of "discriminatory statements" and prosecuted. Not to mention comedian Laurent Gerra, who risks six months in prison every time he mentions "Notre Dame de Paris" in reference to the capital's gay mayor, Bertrand Delanoë.
A problematic move, therefore, but one that at least has the merit of extending to sexual orientation the same protections already afforded to ethnicity and religion, averting accusations of communitarianism and "lobbying power" against the gay community. In Italy, several similar proposals exist, supplementing the 1993 Mancino law against racial and religious discrimination. They have been presented by left-wing parliamentarians like Vendola and Grillini, as well as center-right ones like Antonio Gentile. However, they have lain forgotten for years.
