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France to appoint LGBTQ envoy to promote rights

August 4, 2022

The government says the new envoy will help France fight discrimination across the world, but the announcement comes after a Cabinet minister made disparaging remarks.

https://p.dw.com/p/4F8vf
French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne
Borne said the ambassador will be named by the end of the yearImage: Christian Hartmann/AP Photo/picture alliance

France will create an ambassador's post to promote LGBTQ rights worldwide, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Thursday.

The new envoy will coordinate the Foreign Ministry's policy and act as "France's voice," Borne told an audience on the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in the country.

The ambassador, to be appointed by the end of the year, will "campaign for the decriminalization everywhere of homosexuality and trans identity," she said.

Borne also announced the creation of a €3 million ($3.05 million) fund to finance 10 new LGBTQ centers, in addition to the 35 already existing in France.

Controversy about disparaging remarks

The move comes after a minister made comments last month that were seen as stigmatizing homosexuality and LGBTQ people.

Asked about her opposition to France's 2013 law authorizing gay marriage and adoption, the minister, Caroline Cayeux, said: "I have a lot of friends among all those people.''

The remarks last month shocked LGBTQ people and activists, many of whom called for her resignation.

Cayeux later apologized, saying her remarks had been "inappropriate."

On Thursday, Borne insisted that there was "no ambivalence" among the members of President Emmanuel Macron's government on their commitment to LGBTQ rights.

lo/nm (AFP, AP)