Ten Convicted Over Transgender Claims About France First Lady

A Paris court on Monday convicted ten people for cyberbullying France’s first lady, Brigitte Macron, over false claims that she is a transgender woman.

The defendants, eight men and two women, were found guilty of spreading malicious and defamatory content online alleging that Brigitte Macron was born under the name Jean-Michel Trogneux, which is in fact the name of her older brother.

The court ruled that the claims amounted to sustained cyber-harassment targeting her gender and sexuality.

Brigitte and her husband, French President Emmanuel Macron, have for years been subjected to conspiracy theories and personal attacks, including commentary on their 24-year age difference.

While the couple largely ignored such claims in the past, they have recently taken legal action to challenge them.

Monday’s judgment is seen as a significant legal victory for the Macrons. It also comes as they pursue a separate, high-profile defamation case in the United States against right-wing influencer and podcaster Candace Owens, who has publicly repeated the transgender claims about France’s first lady.

The Macrons told the Paris court that some of the online posts went as far as equating the couple’s age difference with “paedophilia,” a comparison the judges described as particularly harmful.

The convicted individuals were handed various sentences. One defendant received an unsuspended six-month prison term, while others were handed suspended sentences of up to eight months.

Additional penalties included fines, compulsory cyber-harassment awareness courses, and bans for five of the convicted individuals from using the social media platforms on which the abuse was posted.

Some of the defendants argued that their comments were intended as a joke and protected by freedom of expression, but the court rejected that defence.

One of those convicted, 55-year-old gallery owner and writer Bertrand Scholler, said he would appeal his six-month suspended sentence.

“This is horrible. It’s abominable, this shows just how far French society is drifting toward less freedom of speech. Freedom of speech no longer exists,” Scholler told reporters outside the court.

Speaking on TF1 on Sunday night, Brigitte Macron defended her decision to pursue legal action, saying she hoped it would encourage others, particularly young people, to stand up against online harassment.

“The attacks never stop,” she said, noting that some perpetrators had even broken into her tax records online and altered her personal details. She added that those spreading the rumours ignored clear evidence of her identity.

“A birth certificate is not nothing, it is a father or a mother who goes to declare their child, who says who he is or who she is. I want to help adolescents fight harassment, and if I do not set an example, it will be difficult,” Brigitte Macron said.