French minister Clément Beaune comes out as gay, will fight Poland’s anti-LGBTQ zones
Secretary of State for European Affairs also promises to fight state homophobia in Hungary
Words: Jamie Tabberer; picture: Instagram/Clément Beaune
French politician Clément Beaune comes out as gay and say he is going to tackle Poland’s anti-LGBTQ zones
French Minister for European Affairs Clément Beaune has come out as gay in an interview with French LGBTQ magazine TÊTU.
The politician has also promised to fight homophobia in countries like Hungary and Poland, including visiting the latter’s infamous ‘LGBT-free zones’.
“Not an obstacle”
“I am gay, and I have no problem saying it,” he says in the publication’s latest issue, adding that his sexuality was “not an obstacle” to becoming a minister.
“The beatings, the violence, the rejection, it exists in 2020,” he said. “To say today my sexual orientation, it is not indecency or the staging of the intimacy.”
Beaune has been in office since 26 July 2020. His role involves conducting relations with the European Union.
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“I wouldn’t want people to say I am fighting against “LGBT-free” zones because I am gay,” added Beaune, 39. “It would be insulting to say I am leading that fight for myself.”
“However, as European affairs minister, I have an additional responsibility. I must fight for tolerance.”
Poland’s ‘LGBT-free’ zones refer to the over 90 municipalities, primarily in south-eastern Poland, that have officially declared war on what they deem ‘gay propaganda’.
Meanwhile, in Hungary, the government recently proposed a ban on same-sex couples adopting.
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