Since French President Emmanuel Macron lost the European elections to the far-right National Rally on June 9 and announced snap parliamentary elections, attacks on LGBTQ people have been deliberately political. Rights groups fear that if the far right comes to power in under two weeks, laws put in place to protect LGBTQ people could be dismantled and violent attacks legitimised.
As the European election results came pouring in on the evening of June 9, it became clear that France’s far-right Rassemblement National (National Rally or RN) would come out on top. And they did, with flying colours. Garnering 31.5 percent of the vote, the party led by Marine Le Pen outshone President Emmanuel Macron’s coalition with almost twice as many votes.
