A Parisian court has fined a protester for their use of the word ‘homophobe’, declaring the term to be defamatory.
Former president of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) in Paris, Laure Pora, was told to pay a sum to far right group La Manif Pour Tous as the result of a protest in 2013.
Pora and ACT UP had held a protest outside the offices of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation, a pro-life medical research group known to have close ties to the anti-LGBT group La Manif Pour Tous.
La Manif Pour Tous are vocal opponents of the LGBTIQ+ community, fighting against same-sex marriage, adoption rights for LGBTIQ+ people and recognising gender diversity or transgender people.
The protest involved throwing condoms and fake blood at the building, as well as posters bearing the face of Jerome Lejeune founder Ludovine La Rochere and the logo of La Manif, with some featuring the word ‘homophobe’.
La Rochere’s lawyer told French publication Le Monde that “describing La Manif Pour Tous as homophobic is a criminal offence.”
ACT UP’s former president Pora was ordered to pay 800 Euros to La Manif Pour Tous, and to cover the judicial costs.
OIP Staff
