FRANCE: Women’s Rights Activist On Trial Over Criminal “Transphobia” After Stating That Women Must Be Wary Of “People With Penises”

By Genevieve Gluck
Dora Motout [L] and Nicolas "Marie" Cau [R].

A women’s rights activist in France is on trial after being accused of promoting violence against transgender people for stating that women needed to be wary of “people with penises.” Dora Moutot, an author and campaigner, faces possible criminal penalties, with prosecutors arguing that her views contribute to a harmful social climate linked to “trans youth” suicides. They are seeking a fine of about €2,000 and an order that she attend a so-called re-education course.

The legal complaint, first lodged in February 2023, has been backed by three LGBT organizations – Adheos, Mousse and SOS Homophobie – on behalf of the mayor of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes, a trans-identified male named Nicolas “Marie” Cau.

Court documents reference a 2022 episode of late-night talk show Quelle époque! which featured a debate between Moutot and Cau. While discussing the issue of men who claim to be transgender women, Moutot stated that women have a need to be cautious in the presence of “people with penises.”

Presenter Léa Salamé asked Moutot, “In what way do you, as a feminist, as a woman, feel that trans demands weaken you? Why do you see this as something that should be opposed? What does it take away from you, as a woman?”

In response, Moutot asserted that it was necessary to “find common ground.” She then cited specific examples of ways in which gender identity ideology policies impede on the rights of women and girls. “For example, in sports: today, a number of trans women—formerly men—compete in women’s categories. And sometimes, simply because they have different musculature, they win,” Moutot elaborated.

“We also face issues in prisons. In certain countries—the United States, in California, or in England—men who have sometimes committed murders of women or rapes are first placed in men’s prisons,” she added. “Then they undergo a ‘gender-affirming’ program, transition while in prison, become women administratively, and are transferred to women’s prisons.”

She continued: “In some cases—I have to say it—there have been men who raped their female fellow inmates. I am not saying that all trans people do this, far from it, but as women we are obliged to be wary of people with penises.”

The latter remark is what attorneys for Cau are arguing constitutes “advocating violence against transgender individuals.”

Nicolas “Marie” Cau. Photo credit: Tendance Ouest

Speaking to Reduxx, Moutot explained how the prosecutors demonized her in court last week.

“Throughout the hearing, they portrayed me as a hateful woman whose sole activity is to make ‘transphobia’ her business model. They implied that I bear responsibility for ‘the suicide of trans people,’” she said.

“The prosecutor, a man, recommended that the judges convict me. In his view, my statement was both misandrist and transphobic. He suggested that I be sentenced to attend a re-education course and pay a fine,” Moutot continued.

“I explicitly stated beforehand: ‘I am not saying that all trans people do this, far from it,'” she explained. “I also said that ‘we need to find common ground’ on areas of friction between trans rights and women’s rights, particularly in sports and prisons. Despite these qualifications, I was prosecuted. The opposing side argues that my statement amounts to a call to transphobic hatred.”

“Of the three judges, two were women and one was a man. The male judge was the most insistent, repeatedly asking me the same questions, as if attempting to corner me,” Moutot told Reduxx. “He questioned several times why I used the term ‘people with penises,’ especially given that I have criticized transgender vocabulary such as ‘people with vulvas.’ I had to justify why I was using what he implied was my opponents’ terminology, suggesting that I was doing so ironically, as if I had sarcastic or malicious intent. The two female judges asked me very few questions.”

“My lawyers had been confident before the hearing that we would win. Afterward, they were more concerned because of the prosecutor’s position. Although his recommendation is not binding on the judges’ final decision, it was troubling. I believe that, to some extent, even my lawyers underestimated the intensity of the climate surrounding this issue. It’s hard to understand before you actually live it.”

Moutot was initially charged with criminal “misgendering” both Cau and Hanneli Escurier, a female journalist who identifies as a man. However, not all of the statements originally cited have remained as part of the ongoing prosecution.

During the debate, Salamé had asked Moutot whether she regarded the mayor as a woman, to which Moutot replied, “To me, Marie Cau is a man.” A statement released by Mousse accused Moutot of “violently attacking” Cau by calling him both a man, and a “transfeminine man.”

The charge relating to the phrase “transfeminine man” was dismissed at an early stage following procedural arguments advanced by Moutot’s defense, Richard Malka and his colleague Marine Viegas, who raised an objection based on the formal defects of the summons and the legal classification being relied upon.

Cau, whose given name is Nicolas, became well known in France after he was elected to political office in 2020 and was celebrated in media reports as the first transgender mayor in the nation. After he won the election in the small town of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes, which has a population of approximately 500, Cau expressed an ambition to run for President.

Last year, Cau published an autobiography titled Madame Mayor (Madame le Maire) wherein he described his urge to wear women’s clothing, an activity which he says brings about the “height of happiness” for him.

“Once I was alone in the house, I put on my girl’s clothes. A feeling of happiness, of liberation. Dressed like this, I can talk about myself in feminine terms and I can breathe,” Cau wrote. “Finally. I am myself. Shortly after puberty, I would also wear make-up… It became a bit like a drug, an addiction, because it feels so good that I would try to find that pleasure again.”

In his autobiography, Cau also detailed his divorce from his wife, and railed against the justice system, which granted custody of their children to his former wife.

“The woman is always the victim, while the man is always the executioner, often accused of violence or alcoholism,” he wrote. The judge presiding over their divorce proceedings ordered him to leave the home and granted him limited visitation rights – a situation that Cau says “is one that the courts traditionally reserve for a failing or even violent father.”

Moutot has been the target of what she describes as “enormous harassment” for years, beginning in 2019 when she began to question gender identity ideology.

Previously, prominent political figures in France have publicly condemned and even mocked Moutot on social media for her statements about biological sex. Following an interview published in Le Figaro last August, Senator Mélanie Vogel of The Greens (EELV) taunted Moutot on Twitter, commenting that “transphobes are not feminists.” The publication had shared a photo of Moutot alongside a quote: “A woman is an adult human female, this is a biological reality. Only women are able to give life. This is a privilege.”

For stating her views that men cannot become women, Moutot has been targeted by activists who have explicitly called for violent acts to be committed against her, even for her murder. Examples of calls for violence against her include trans activists chanting, “One TERF, one bullet” and “Dora Moutot to the bottom of the Rhine.”

In May 2024, trans activists chanted death threats at Moutot and her colleague, Marguerite Stern, outside of Assas University where they had been invited to speak about a book they wrote together critical of gender identity ideology titled “Transmania.”

Demonstrators surrounded the entrance and shouted, “A TERF, a bullet, social justice,” at the two women as they were escorted by police. “They have no shame,” said Stern in footage depicting the scene. “How can they say that in front of police?” marveled Moutot.

Other threats published online urged people to “settle things with knives,” while still others encouraged supporters to “burn” and “smash” her. Moutot filed a legal complaint against those who made violent threats against her, but her complaints were dismissed by the courts.

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Genevieve Gluck
Genevieve Gluck
Genevieve is the Co-Founder of Reduxx, and the outlet's Chief Investigative Journalist with a focused interest in pornography, sexual predators, and fetish subcultures. She is the creator of the podcast Women's Voices, which features news commentary and interviews regarding women's rights.
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