France's LGBTQ+ activists have welcomed a decision by the National Assembly to approve a bill compensating people convicted of the "offence of homosexuality" between 1942 and 1982. Up to 400 victims could be eligible for reparations under the draft law, which must now be examined by the Senate.
France's Senate had already agreed to recognising the harm inflicted on people who were conviected of homosexuality when it was a crime -– but it has so far resisted the idea of reparations.
Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti apologised of behalf of the state during the parliament session last week when the bill was approved by the lower house.
"Sorry. Sorry to the people, the homosexual people of France, who for 40 years suffered this totally unfair repression," he said.
Seventy-five-year-old Michel Chomarat, who was sentenced under the old legislation, said he was "very moved" by the news.
In 1977, Chomarat was among a group of men detained in a police raid on a gay bar in Paris called "Le Manhattan".
"I've been fighting for almost 50 years because I never accepted being arrested and sentenced," he told the French news agency AFP.
Decriminalisation
Although France was the first country in the world to decriminalise homosexuality – in 1791 during the French Revolution – the policy of discrimination was reintroduced under the Nazi-allied Vichy regime.
Under the guise of protecting young people, the Vichy government in 1942 introduced a distinction between the age of consent for heterosexual and homosexual sex.
That age was set at 13 for heterosexual couples (though raised to 15 a few years later), while it was set at 21 for homosexuals.
Same-sex couples risked prison until 1982, with convictions including “moral indecency” and “leading a minor to debauchery”.
Terrence Katchadourian, of the NGO Stop Homophobie, said Wednesday's unanimous vote in parliament was a "nice surprise".
"The fact that France is asking for forgiveness ... sends a beautiful message worldwide," he said.
Strong signal
Joel Deumier, also with SOS Homophobie, said that while the National Assembly had sent an "extremely strong signal", there could be no recognition without reparations.
It is estimated that between 1942 and 1982, some 50,000 people were convicted for homosexual offences.
Of those, 10,000 were targeted under under Article 331 of the Penal Code. They were almost exclusively men from the working class. A third of were married, widowed or divorced, while a quarter had children.
Ninety-three percent of the convictions carried a prison sentence.
According to research by sociologists Régis Schlagdenhauffen and Jérémie Gauthier, a further 50,000 people were convicted under a separate “public indecency” law that was incorporated into the Penal Code in 1960.
Upturned lives
Many of those whose lives were upturned by the condemnations are now dead or very old – meaning few are likely to come forward for reparations.
But for Schlagdenhauffen, the time has come for legal recognition in France.
"Neighboring countries such as the Netherlands and Germany, as well as countries across the Atlantic, have already been following this type of path for a long time," he said.
Socialist lawmaker Herve Saulignac estimates that 200 to 400 people could be eligible for financial compensation.
But Dupond-Moretti said it would likely be difficult for many to prove they were jailed or forced to pay fines.
(with AFP)
