France has seen a sharp rise in anti-LGBTQ incidents in 2023, according to a report published by the French Interior Ministry on Thursday, a rise that activists warn marks a worrying trend in the country.
The report – released on the eve of World Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia – documents a 13% jump in anti-LGBTQ crimes from 2022.
The most serious crimes, including assaults, threats and harassment, registered a 19 percent increase, with 2,870 cases registered by French authorities.
“It seems that the embers of LGBTIphobia have been lit and now the fire is ready to catch fire,” said the president of the French activist group SOS Homophobie, Julia Torlet.
“What worries us most are the emerging trends… we are extremely worried,” Torlet added, saying that “if the government does not act”, France risks reverting to the violence seen in 2013 over the legalization of intermarriage. of the same sex.
The number of anti-LGBTQ incidents has risen sharply – by around 17% on average every year for felonies and misdemeanors – since 2016, according to the Home Office.
But these numbers only paint part of the picture.
Men make up the majority of victims and perpetrators in anti-LGBTQ incidents, representing 70 and 82 percent, respectively.
Furthermore, the perpetrators are predominantly young, with nearly half of all defendants under the age of 30 and more than a third under the age of 19, the report states.
– ‘Past the worry phase’-
Although the report says that victims are now “better received” by authorities, only 20% of people subjected to threats or violence and 5% of victims of verbal abuse file a complaint.
“We are past the concern phase,” Stop Homophobie spokesperson Maxime Haes told AFP.
Anti-LGBTQ acts are linked to “the dramatic rise in LGBTphobic discourse,” Haes said, which he says is fueled by “the rise of the far right and religious extremism.”
The owner of a bar in Nantes, a city in western France, told regional newspaper Ouest-France that he canceled an LGBTQ-friendly event in early May due to safety concerns, after a poster featuring individuals with religious habits sparked an outcry. stain of hate” online.
And in France, 60 percent of people avoid holding hands with same-sex partners for fear of being assaulted, according to a 2024 report from the European Agency for Fundamental Rights.
The country has also seen a rise in transphobic speech, Haes said.
SOS Homophobie has denounced what it calls the “abysmal silence from the government” and criticized the lack of “ambitious policy” on LGBTQ issues, even after the appointment of openly gay Prime Minister Gabriel Attal earlier this year.
“Hate speech is not being tackled by politicians,” added Stop Homophobie’s Haes.
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