Ten years ago Gérald Darmanin, then UMP deputy, voted against marriage for all and supported La Manif pour tous.
“François Hollande was right” to authorize marriage for all in 2013 in France, recognizes Friday, April 21 on franceinfo the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin. “The left, the Socialist Party and President Hollande in particular were right against the right of which I was a part and which was a little out of step.” At the time a UMP deputy, he voted against the Taubira law after denouncing a “harmful reform” and supported La Manif pour tous.
“If I hurt people, and I probably had hurtful words, it was not my desire. It’s not the role of a politician to do so.” Gérald Darmanin, who after the adoption of the Taubira law had assured that he would not marry homosexual couples in his town of Tourcoing, says he is now ready to do so. “If a gay couple wants me to marry them, I will gladly do so, like any couple”he says on franceinfo.
Strategic shift?
Is this reversal, however, a strategy orchestrated by the one cited among the potential successors of Elisabeth Borne as Prime Minister? Questioned, Gérald Darmanin does not confirm that he is a candidate for Matignon. “There is a Prime Minister, she works and I support her”he assures.
He also believes that it is not the opposition to marriage for all that cost this position to others before him, like Catherine Vautrin. His change of opinion on the subject is simply due to “the experience of life”, he assures. “It felt good to be mayor and to have the experience of people’s lives.”
Strengthening the fight against attacks
The current Minister of the Interior therefore remains focused on his files, among which it is urgent to fight “against all forms of attacks on sexual orientation which increase”. “It’s not a political priority and I think it needs to be. We are seeing an extremely sharp increase in attacks, especially against younger people holding hands or kissing in the street.”
Next week, the prefects will therefore be instructed to “bring together all the associations”especially for “be aware of the festive places, town centers and countryside where there are attacks”. “We have to be there as we are, I believe more and more, on violence against women in the public space. We are not present enough to protect.”