Few debates today are as fraught as whether gender identity should override biological sex in law and public life. It turns on questions of women’s safety and fairness, and, increasingly, on free speech: what people are permitted to say, and what they can be compelled to say. Nowhere is that collision sharper than in parts of Europe, where speech deemed hateful or offensive can lead to criminal prosecution.
Dora Moutot, a French feminist writer and activist, was convicted earlier this year of “public insult” over remarks made during a 2022 televised debate with France’s first transgender mayor. She is appealing, and now faces new criminal charges that could carry up to a year in prison. Below is her account of how a TV appearance became a criminal case, and what it reveals about the price of speaking freely in France today. —The Editors
In 2022, I went on a French television show to debate what makes a woman a woman. For expressing my opinion, I have been convicted as a criminal.
The show was Quelle Époque!, a popular talk show, and across from me sat Marie Cau, France’s first transgender mayor. I argued that self-identification laws were potentially dangerous to women. I cited cases of men identifying as trans women who were transferred to women’s prisons, and later committed acts of sexual violence against female inmates. “I’m not saying that all trans people do this—far from it,” I said, “but, as women, we have no choice but to be wary of people with penises.”
When the moderator then asked whether I considered Cau to be a woman, I said that Cau “is a man, a transfeminine man.”
I never could have predicted what would happen next.
Two months after my appearance, three French LGBT nonprofits, all of which receive public funding, filed a criminal complaint against me arguing these statements constituted a “transphobic insult” and could potentially drive many young transgender people to suicide.
In France, this isn’t a civil lawsuit in the American sense, where a private citizen sues another for money and a judge decides who owes what. “Public insult” is a criminal offense, with a maximum punishment of one year in prison and a fine of up to €45,000 for insults committed against a person because of their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. And under French law, private parties have the right to initiate criminal prosecutions themselves.
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