Γάλλος υπουργός και φίλος του προέδρου της Γαλλικής Δημοκρατίας του Νικολά Σαρκοζί, παραδέχτηκε ότι είναι γκέι! Πρόκειται για τον υπουργό Roger Karoutchi, ο οποίος φαίνεται ότι “απελευθερώθηκε” πλέον μετά την δημόσια παραδοχή του ότι ανήκει στην οικογένεια των “γκέι”. “Ναι, είμαι γκέι”, είπε. “Και λοιπόν;”
Απίστευτοι άνθρωποι, άλλος πολιτισμός, άλλα ήθη και έθιμα. Το θέμα είναι εδώ στην Ελλάδα πότε κάποιοι κρατικοί αξιωματούχοι θα το παραδεχτούν δημοσίως και δεν θα κρύβονται! Όπως επίσης και κάποιοι δημοτικοί άρχοντες… Αν έχουν τα κότσια, ας βγουν να πουν το αυτονόητο, όπως ο Γάλλος υπουργός που ένιωσε ανακουφισμένος… Εξάλλου στη Γαλλία, υπάρχει ένα διαφορετικό κλίμα απέναντι στη μειονότητα των ομοφυλοφίλων. Τα μέσα μαζικής ενημέρωσης σπανίως ασχολούνται με την ιδιωτική ζωή των πολιτικών. Πάντως η αντίπαλός του στις προσεχείς τοπικές εκλογές, η Valérie Pécresse, θέλοντας να υπογραμμίσει τις μεταξύ τους διαφορές, είπε το εξής: “Εγώ είμαι μητέρα σε μια οικογένεια”…
Τα σχετικά τα διάβασα στην ιστοσελίδα της εφημερίδας Times του Λονδίνου, κι όποιος έχει όρεξη ας το διαβάσει…
French minister comes out as gay
For the first time, a French government minister has announced that he is homosexual. The coming out of Roger Karoutchi, 57, Minister for Relations with Parliament and a longtime friend of President Sarkozy, has consumed a fair bit of media space.
Karoutchi’s message, in television and radio appearances as well as a book, is roughly: ‘Yes I’m gay. So what?’. On TF1 TV last night he said: “I live with a partner and am happy with him. End of story. It’s my life and I draw no special glory or shame from this.”
It’s interesting that this is always called le coming out. French adopted the American expression in the 1980s, along with “le outing“. Karoutchi’s decision reflects the gradual retreat of the old taboos and stigma in France over homosexuality. Twenty or 30 years ago, Karoutchi would have committed electoral suicide making such an announcement. Now it might even help him.
Being officially gay became acceptable in the arts world about the time of the Cage aux Folles comedies in the 1970s and 80s. The gay world featured in a string of 1990s comedies and since then gay characters have become normal in in tv series and films. Public figures remain partly protected by the French media taboo over private life but there was no difficulty last spring with the public mourning of Pierre Bergé, the fashion tycoon and patron of leftwing causes, after the death of his partner Yves Saint-Laurent.
And this year is the 10th anniversary of the PACS, the civil union that was created primarily for gays in 1999 (It has subsequently proved highly popular for straight couples, while gay campaigners want France to establish full marriage for them).
But acceptance has come much later in the political world. It was only 17 years ago that Edith Cresson, then Prime Minister under President Mitterrand, tried to put down the British with a sneer that ”a quarter of Englishmen are homosexuals.” A breakthrough came when Bertrand Delanoe, the Paris Socialist, confirmed in 1998 that he was gay and went on to win election as Mayor of the city in 2001. Apart from Delanoe, who benefits from the tolerance of the cosmopolitan capital city, no other national-level politicians have ever confirmed their homosexuality. It’s fair to say that in the provinces of la France profonde, professions of homosexuality still make voters uneasy.
Karoutchi said he felt confident in going public because Sarkozy had behaved so well towards him, inviting his partner along with him to stay at his holiday house and to official dinners at the Elysée Palace. “If I had to dedicate to someone the fact that I am speaking out, it would be to the President of the Republic,” he told le Monde.
Politics are behind Karoutchi’s coming-out. He is running in a party primary election in March for the candidacy for the presidency of the Ile-de-France — the Paris regional government. His opponent is a cabinet colleague, Valérie Pécresse, Minister for Higher Education [below]. Karoutchi was stung by what looked like an attempt by Pécresse to score off his homosexuality. She was asked to describe the difference between her and Karoutchi. “I am a mother in a family,” she replied. There was also a whispering campaign on the internet, said Karoutchi.
This may be the first time that a profession of homosexuality has helped a French politician. Karoutchi was running far behind Pécresse in opinion polls and many voters reported that they had never heard of him. Now they have.
As a footnote, Sarkozy’s easy relations with homosexual friends mark a change. In 2001, Sarko attacked Delanoe in a book (Libre) for coming out in public. “What got into Bertrand Delanoë, wanting at all costs to reveal his homosexuality?” Sarko wrote.
