In a column published Sunday by the JDD, a hundred personalities, including the presidential majority, denounce the “homophobic remarks” of Minister Caroline Cayeux.
A hundred personalities from all walks of life, including the presidential majority, denounced the “homophobic remarks” of Minister Caroline Cayeux who “personally bruised” many of the signatories of this forum published in the Journal du Dimanche.
From Manuel Valls to Alex Goude
“How to accept the remarks made by the Minister in charge of Territorial Communities on the eve of the National Day”, wonder in particular the signatories, among whom are, in the political department, the former Prime Minister Manuel Valls, the deputies of the majority Joël Giraud, David Valence, Raphaël Gérard, Quentin Bataillon, or even the mayors of Paris Center Ariel Weil (PS), of the 5th arrondissement Florence Berthout (DVD), of the 6th arrondissement Jean-Pierre Lecoq (LR) and of the 9th arrondissement Delphine Bürkli (Horizons), as well as the 1st deputy mayor of Marseille Michèle Rubirola (EELV).
Also initialed the text, entitled “To all these people”, the neuropsychiatrist Boris Cyrulnik, the general secretary of the UNSA Laurent Escure, the entrepreneur Mathieu Gallet, the animator Alex Goude, the doctor of sciences Aurélie Jean or again the psychiatrist Serge Hefez.
Caroline Cayeux, Minister of Territorial Communities, had sparked controversy this week by responding to Public Senate, who questioned her about old statements dating from 2013 “on marriage for all and adoption for same-sex couples, qualified reform of whim and design that goes against nature”.
Remarks that she describes as “stupid and awkward”
The minister had initially said: “I obviously stand by my words. But I have always said that the law, if it were passed, I would apply it”. And to add: “I must tell you all the same I have a lot of friends among these people. Frankly, it’s a bad trial that I’m being made and it upset me a lot”.
Faced with the outcry, Caroline Cayeux had backpedaled Thursday evening in Le Parisien, recalling that the remarks, which she now considers “stupid and clumsy”, “go back ten years”. “And if I can’t deny having held them, of course I won’t use them anymore and regret them,” she added, presenting her “sincere apologies”.
Read also: The mea culpa of Caroline Cayeux on her remarks on marriage for all
“The question is not whether this new minister has, in her entourage, friends among + these people +, like a mask on her prejudices”, write the signatories of the platform.
“She deliberately chose to maintain homophobic remarks: it is certainly reprehensible. And only a judge should decide,” they add, while several associations announced on Wednesday that they had filed a complaint in Paris.
No call for resignation
“On the other hand, the question is whether the government, in its duty of solidarity, validates the position of one of its members, and whether the majority subscribes to its attitude”, underline the participants, even if certain ministers, like Clément Beaune, have publicly distanced themselves from the words of Caroline Cayeux. “It is a question of defending not this or that community, but respect for the principle of equality and legality by a member of the government”, they insist, without calling for the resignation of Caroline Cayeux.
“His words hurt many of us personally, but above all they undermine our daily efforts to enforce republican principles in our territories”, they underline, considering that Ms. Cayeux’s “regrets” do not have the ” strength of sincerity”.
After Caroline Cayeux’s apology, Elisabeth Borne assured Friday that “things are now clear”. “And Caroline Cayeux, like the rest of the government, is at work and focused on its mission,” said the Prime Minister.