The anti-trans activist Dora Moutot has been convicted following remarks directed at Marie Cau on Léa Salamé’s show on France 2.
Dora Moutot found guilty of “public insult toward a group of people because of their gender identity”. The Paris Judicial Court condemned this Wednesday, May 20, the anti-trans activist for remarks made in 2022 on the show Quelle époque! hosted by Léa Salamé on Saturday evenings on France 2. Following the sequence broadcast on television on a public service channel, the associations STOP homophobie, Mousse and Adheos had filed a complaint in defense of transgender people. The judges ruled in their favor, considering that the denounced remarks “ascribe” transgender people to stereotypes that harm their dignity.
In her program of October 15, 2022, Léa Salamé had organized a face-to-face between Dora Moutot and Marie Cau, France’s first transgender mayor, who has since resigned from her term. The debate concerns a poster from Planned Parenthood showing a pregnant man, and more broadly issues of gender and transgender identity. During the exchange, Dora Moutot states that Marie Cau is not a woman but “a biologically male person”, adding: “We have to beware of penis-bearing people, as a woman.” Marie Cau immediately points to a discourse stemming from the “fachosphère” and the comedian Jérémy Ferrari, present on the set, threatens to walk off if such statements continue to be made. The sequence provoked strong reactions on social networks. The court ruled: these remarks indeed constitute public insult due to their “outrageous”, “generalizing” and “stigmatizing” nature. The anti-trans activist is condemned to a fine of 1,000 euros.
Reaction of Marie Cau
Joined by têtu·, Marie Cau revisits this televised sequence, which she “keeps a painful memory of”: “I had the impression they were chasing the buzz. I saw in it a passive complicity in organizing this face-to-face. Everyone knows that I never back down from debating. But this time, there was a pursuit of controversy and hatred.” “ And she notes, after the judgment handed down in this case where she was cited as a witness: “Personal attacks did not stop, and Dora Moutot’s defense demonstrated only one thing: her remarks are nothing but pure hatred of trans people.”
Representing the plaintiff associations, lawyers Claire Truffy and Etienne Deshoulières “welcomed” the ruling, which “clearly recognizes the transphobic nature of these remarks”. Announcing that she intends to appeal, Dora Moutot used the opportunity to launch a fundraising appeal on PayPal to finance her legal costs. She is also being pursued by SOS homophobie following the 2024 publication of her book Transmania, of which several excerpts are accused of incitement to transphobic hatred.
