The National Rally (RN) regularly claims to defend LGBT+ people and to fight discrimination. Yet an analysis of the party’s votes and positions in the National Assembly and in the European Parliament reveals a more complex reality regarding LGBT+ rights.
From assisted reproductive technology (ART) to the rights of transgender people, including conversion therapies or the fight against discrimination, RN members have taken positions repeatedly on major issues for the queer community. A look at the party’s votes and statements to understand why a portion of LGBT+ people nonetheless continue to support the RN.
According to an IFOP poll from March 2026, the National Rally accounts for 27% of first-round voting intentions for the presidential election among LGBT+ respondents.
The RN’s votes in the National Assembly on LGBT+ rights
- 2021 : The RN is not yet a parliamentary group, but Marine Le Pen already votes against ART for all women, whether single, in heterosexual couples, or in homosexual relationships.
- 2024 : The RN group proposes a law to “protect minors from certain medical and surgical practices in relation to ‘gender transitions’.”
- 2025 : RN deputies vote against taking gender identity into account during security checks in transportation.
- 2026 : RN deputies vote against removing measures that restrict and complicate procedures for changing one’s first name and last name.
Non-exhaustive list.
The RN’s votes in the European Parliament on LGBT+ rights
- 2018 : The Members of the European Parliament from the Front National vote against two amendments to ban conversion therapies.
- 2019 : The RN votes against a resolution condemning zones “free of any LGBT ideology,” zones that were a marker of the rollback of LGBTQIA+ rights in countries such as Poland or Hungary.
- 2021 : The RN MEPs vote against condemning a Hungarian law containing amendments linking homosexuality and pedocriminality.
- 2023 : The RN MEPs are absent during the vote on the resolution for the universal decriminalization of homosexuality.
- 2026 : The RN abstains on the question of banning conversion therapies in Europe. Once again, it does not support this resolution. These practices are still considered “torture” by the UN.
Non-exhaustive list.
How does the RN manage to attract a portion of LGBT+ people?
If the RN’s votes and positions are regularly criticized by LGBTQIA+ rights associations, a portion of the community nevertheless continues to trust it. How can this phenomenon be explained?
Homonationalism or the instrumentalization of the LGBT+ community
The National Rally succeeds in convincing a share of LGBTQIA+ voters by presenting itself as a party attentive to LGBTQIA+ causes, positioning itself as an ally against a homophobic threat whose origin would be “the rise of Islamism.”
This allows the RN to justify racist, islamophobic, and security-focused discourse and policies. This strategy of instrumentalizing LGBTQIA+ claims has a name: it is homonationalism.
This strategy was theorized by Jasbir K. Puar, professor in the Department of Women’s & Gender Studies at Rutgers University. She explains how recognizing sexual and gender minorities can ultimately be a way to hierarchize and discriminate individuals, rendering only a small portion of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum tolerable.
The “I’m not homophobic, I have a gay friend” strategy
The RN also highlights the presence of homosexuals within the party, such as Jean-Philippe Tanguy or Sébastien Chenu, to bolster its image with a segment of the LGBTQIA+ electorate. But the presence of homosexuals in a party is not enough to prove that the party defends LGBTQIA+ rights.
History shows that the identity of certain members does not reflect a movement’s political line: Ernst Röhm, head of the SA and an openly gay man, occupied a central role in the Nazi party, a regime that nonetheless persecuted LGBTQIA+ people and ultimately assassinated him during the Night of the Long Knives…
The real danger to LGBT+ rights is the RN
The RN is not and will never be an ally of LGBT+ people, and if there is a real danger for the LGBTQIA+ community and other minorities, it is the National Rally in power in 2027. See our article on Giorgia Meloni.
For more details on the RN’s anti-LGBT+ votes, read Bon Pote’s investigation on the subject.
