FRANCE: Women’s Rights Activist Convicted of Insulting “Transgender Women” by Discussing Their “Male Attribute,” Fined €4,500
A French women’s rights activist has been found guilty of “public insult” over a remark she made during a televised debate with a trans-identified male. Dora Moutot was informed on May 20 that she had been convicted of “public insult against a person or group of people on account of their sex, sexual orientation or gender identity” due to her comment that women are “wary of people with penises.”
Moutot made the statement during an October 2022 episode of the popular talk show Quelle Époque!, where she had been invited as a guest to debate a trans-identified male named Marie Cau, the mayor of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes. While discussing the issue of men who claim to be transgender women, Moutot stated that women have a need to be cautious in the presence of “people with penises.”
In its ruling, the court argued that Moutot had reduced “transgender women” to “their male attribute.”
“By referring to them as ‘penis people’ whom ‘women’ are ‘forced to distrust’, the defendant first assigns transgender women to their penis, that is, to their male sexual attribute of birth, while denying their female gender identity since they are opposed to ‘women’, the defendant thus implicitly considering that transgender women are not women,” the verdict read.
“This statement, which in a generalizing and essentializing way denies the gender identity of those concerned and assigns them to a masculine sexual attribute by associating the latter with a state of danger for cisgender women, is outrageous towards transgender women because of their sex and their gender identity.”
Incredibly Moutot was fined €1,000, to be paid to the state, as well as the payment of €500 in damages to each of the three trans activist associations who backed Cau’s legal complaint, and an additional €2,000 to cover the court costs, which had come from public funding.
Presenter Léa Salamé asked Moutot, “In what way do you, as a feminist, as a woman, feel that trans demands weaken you? Why do you see this as something that should be opposed? What does it take away from you, as a woman?”
In response, Moutot asserted that it was necessary to “find common ground.” She then cited specific examples of ways in which gender identity ideology policies impede on the rights of women and girls. “For example, in sports: today, a number of trans women—formerly men—compete in women’s categories. And sometimes, simply because they have different musculature, they win,” Moutot elaborated.
“We also face issues in prisons. In certain countries—the United States, in California, or in England—men who have sometimes committed murders of women or rapes are first placed in men’s prisons,” she added. “Then they undergo a ‘gender-affirming’ program, transition while in prison, become women administratively, and are transferred to women’s prisons.”
She continued: “In some cases—I have to say it—there have been men who raped their female fellow inmates. I am not saying that all trans people do this, far from it, but as women we are obliged to be wary of people with penises.”
Cau, backed by three trans activist organizations who are funded by taxpayers – Adheos, Mousse and SOS Homophobie – filed a criminal complaint against Moutot over her comments in February 2023. Attorneys for Cau argued that her comments constitute “advocating violence against transgender individuals,” though the recent ruling tossed out that claim, stating her remarks did not “incite the public, implicitly or explicitly, to violence, discrimination or hatred”.
During the debate, Salamé had asked Moutot whether she regarded the mayor as a woman, to which Moutot replied, “To me, Marie Cau is a man.” A statement released by Mousse accused Moutot of “violently attacking” Cau by calling him both a man, and a “transfeminine man.”
Moutot shared details of the recent verdict in a post to her personal Substack, and expressed her concern for freedom of speech, noting that “it is now apparently formally forbidden to call for distrust of the opposite sex.”
“It is unacceptable that a woman can be criminally convicted for expressing, in a debate of general interest, a concern related to women’s safety and the reality of biological sex,” she said. “My point was simple: when someone has a male sex, regardless of their gender identity, many women instinctively feel a heightened sense of vigilance. This is neither hatred nor an incitement to violence. It is a protective reflex deeply rooted in the female experience. Apparently, simply mentioning this reality is now enough to be condemned.”
Moutot also stated that she intends to appeal the decision, saying that she is willing to take the case to the Court of Cassation, the highest court in France.
In response to Wednesday’s verdict, SOS Homophobie released a public statement suggesting that a part of the motivation for the lawsuit was to make an example of Moutot and to criminalize criticism of people who claim to be transgender.
“STOP homophobia welcomes a ruling that clearly establishes that statements targeting transgender people can be penalized by law, even without an explicit call to hatred… This case shows that discourse targeting transgender people does not come without consequences.”
Cau, whose given name is Nicolas, became well known in France after he was elected to political office in 2020 and was celebrated in media reports as the first transgender mayor in the nation. After he won the election in the small town of Tilloy-lez-Marchiennes, which has a population of approximately 500, Cau expressed an ambition to run for President.
In September 2022, Cau published an autobiography titled Madame Mayor (Madame le Maire) wherein he described his urge to wear women’s clothing, an activity which he says brings about the “height of happiness” for him.
“Once I was alone in the house, I put on my girl’s clothes. A feeling of happiness, of liberation. Dressed like this, I can talk about myself in feminine terms and I can breathe,” Cau wrote. “Finally. I am myself. Shortly after puberty, I would also wear make-up… It became a bit like a drug, an addiction, because it feels so good that I would try to find that pleasure again.”
In his autobiography, Cau also detailed his divorce from his wife, and railed against the justice system, which granted custody of their children to his former wife.
“The woman is always the victim, while the man is always the executioner, often accused of violence or alcoholism,” he wrote. The judge presiding over their divorce proceedings ordered him to leave the home and granted him limited visitation rights – a situation that Cau says “is one that the courts traditionally reserve for a failing or even violent father.”
In a staggering hypocrisy, though Moutot had been accused of “advocating violence against transgender individuals,” the author and women’s rights campaigner has herself been subjected to a targeted campaign of harassment, with trans activists explicitly calling for her murder.
Previously, prominent political figures in France have publicly condemned and even mocked Moutot on social media for her statements about biological sex. Following an interview published in Le Figaro last August, Senator Mélanie Vogel of The Greens (EELV) taunted Moutot on Twitter, commenting that “transphobes are not feminists.” The publication had shared a photo of Moutot alongside a quote: “A woman is an adult human female, this is a biological reality. Only women are able to give life. This is a privilege.”
Moutot, along with her colleague Marguerite Stern, have for years endured violent death threats. Since 2019, both women have been relentlessly harassed on social media, which escalated into the public sphere. Both women have been the target of “messages calling for us to ‘smash our heads off,’ slogans like ‘one TERF, one bullet’ or ‘transphobes to the fire’ chanted publicly,” and calls to “physically and violently oppose our entire existence.”
Moutot has documented public graffiti with her name, calling her a “danger” to society.
Other threats published online urged people to “settle things with knives,” while still others encouraged supporters to “burn” and “smash” her. Moutot filed a legal complaint against those who made violent threats against her, but her complaints were dismissed by the courts.
In May 2024, trans activists chanted death threats at Moutot and Stern outside of Assas University where they had been invited to speak about a book they wrote together critical of gender identity ideology titled “Transmania.”
Demonstrators surrounded the entrance and shouted, “A TERF, a bullet, social justice,” at the two women as they were escorted by police. “They have no shame,” said Stern in footage depicting the scene. “How can they say that in front of police?” marveled Moutot.
In September 2024, trans activists set off a bomb at a venue where Stern, co-author of the book “Transmania” with Moutot, was set to speak. The conference, titled Comment L’idéologie Transgenre Détruit des Vies? (How Transgender Ideology Destroys Lives), sought to discuss the harms of both medical transitioning and the aggression of trans activism. Vandalism on the front of the venue read: “Dirty TERF,” an acronym which stands for ‘trans-exclusionary radical feminist’ and is often used as a pejorative to harass or threaten violence against women who oppose gender identity ideology.
“Posters, publications, and slogans explicitly called for physical attacks against us. Around sixty hooded and armed individuals were even arrested on their way to a book signing for our book Transmania,” Moutot noted.
“We have lived under constant pressure: event cancellations, police presence, real fear of attack, massive harassment, smear campaigns, repeated threats. And yet? Cases were dismissed without further action each time we filed a complaint. No legal repercussions. No institutional outrage. No protection.”
She added: “Slogans calling for us to be killed seem to produce less of a legal reaction than a sentence expressing concern about women’s safety.”
Originally written for and published by Reduxx, your source for pro-woman and pro-child safeguarding news.
it is totally ridiculous!
if l identify as a 3 legged lady, and someone mentions l have 2 legs, can l sue them?
You cannot make someone say they see something that they don't see!
It's mandated lying!
Desperate situation for Dora and biological realists in France. But I had a laugh at the poor sensitive males ( trans activists, lawyers, judges?) who can’t cope with the word penis. Male attribute- what dogs breakfast of a euphemism.
Trans identifying men are so “vulnerable” to nasty words such as penis. It’s just a name for a body part for goodness sake.