Spanish actor Karla Sofía Gascón, a trans-identified male previously known as Carlos, has filed a legal complaint against French politician Marion Maréchal, alleging she committed hate speech by calling him a “man.” Maréchal could face one year in prison and a €300,000 fine (£255,300) if found guilty.
On May 26, Maréchal, the head of France’s Reconquête! party for the European elections, made a comment on social media about Gascón after it was announced that he had won an award for “Best Actress” at the Cannes Film Festival. Gascón had won the award for his role in ‘Emilia Pérez,’ wherein he plays the titular role as a ruthless Mexican drug lord who decides to “transition” in order to evade law enforcement.
“So a man has received the prize at Cannes for… female performance. Progress for the left is the erasure of women and mothers,” wrote Maréchal in response to the news of Gascón’s win.
In response to a controversy that ensued, Maréchal reiterated her comments on the news program Telematin the following day, stating: “Saying all day long that a man is a woman does not make it true. Being a woman is a biological reality.”
The French politician’s remarks attracted the outrage of six LGBTQ organizations – Mousse, Stop Homophobie, Familles LGBT, Adheos, Quazar and Fédération LBGTI + – all of which coordinated action together to file a legal complaint against Maréchal.
In a social media post to X announcing the litigation, French organization Stop Homophobie argued that calling trans-identified men “male” was tantamount to “promoting hate” and discrimination.
“We are filing a complaint against Marion Maréchal Le Pen for having violated republican laws by promoting hatred and discrimination… These illegal behaviors reinforce the climate of violence in which LGBT+ people live in France. Marion Maréchal Le Pen’s speeches are heard by those who take action. Since 2016, violence against LGBT+ people has exploded by more than 129%, with the largest increase affecting transgender people. We are more determined than ever to protect them,” wrote Stop Homophobie in their statement.
“Marion Maréchal’s comments deny the very existence of transgender people, as well as the violence and discrimination they suffer on a daily basis,” the lawyer for the six associations, Etienne Deshoulières, told the press.
Speaking with Radio France Internationale on May 28, Maréchal responded to the litigation, saying: “I will not be prevented from continuing to say what is the truth. Being a woman or a man is a biological reality, whether you like it or not. The XX or XY chromosomes cannot be surpassed.”
According to EuroNews, Maréchal could be sentenced to a one-year imprisonment and fined €30,000 if she’s found guilty of transphobic insult; alternatively, she could be fined €3,750 if she’s charged with “sexist insult due to one’s gender identity.”
Speaking with Variety, Deshoulières said Gascón joined in the legal action against Maréchal to add credibility to the joint complaint filed by the six trans activist groups and thereby make it possible for Maréchal to be convicted.
Deshoulières, who specializes in defending the rights of transgender people and co-wrote the book “Droits et Libertés des Personnes Transgenres” (translated to “The Rights and Liberties of Transgender People”), was behind a legal complaint filed last year against women’s rights campaigner Dora Moutot over “misgendering.”
Moutot, a best-selling author and social media influencer, was hit with a legal complaint alleging insults on the basis of gender identity, and public incitement to hatred or violence towards a group of people on the basis of their gender identity. The complaint was filed on behalf of the mayor of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes, a trans-identified male named Marie Cau, and Hanneli Escurier, a female journalist who identifies as a man. Moutot had referred to the former as a man, and the latter as a woman.
Karla Sofía Gascón, previously known as Juan Carlos Gascón, became the first trans-identified male to be awarded the Best Actress prize at the Cannes Film Festival last month for his role in ‘Emilia Pérez,’ an award he shared with his female co-stars. In the film, Gascón plays a drug lord who transitions to escape police.
In a glowing review, EuroNews stated, “The show belongs to Spanish transgender actress, Karla Sofía Gascón, who plays both Manitas and Emilia. She nails the ‘born in a pigsty’ toxic masculinity of the man who believes a gender reset will offer up redemption.”
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