Those who had courage (Badinter) and those who did not (Barnier) – Libération

According to the lawyer Daniel Borrillo, the significance of Michel Barnier’s vote against the decriminalisation of homosexuality supported by Robert Badinter should not be underestimated. In 1982, the MP did not oppose the crusade of the right, “in continuity with the familyist policy of Vichy”.

The current controversy over the Prime Minister’s opposition to the full decriminalisation of homosexuality in 1981, when he was a young MP, deserves both a historical update on the issue and a tribute to those who, in the past, had the courage to advance fundamental rights.

Let us recall that the nascent struggle for the decriminalization of homosexuality in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century came to an abrupt end when the Nazis took power. Penalties against homosexuals were toughened, paragraph 175 of the German penal code (heir to the Prussian code) provided for up to ten years in prison and even displays of affection (holding hands or kissing in the street, etc.) between two people of the same sex could lead to solitary confinement. From 1936 onwards, homosexuals were sent en masse to concentration camps, from which very few survived. If the number of homosexuals who were victims of concentration camps is estimated at fifteen thousand, it seems reasonable, according to Frank Rector, to consider that around five hundred thousand homosexuals died in prisons, summary executions or during experimental treatments. Paradoxically, communist propaganda has constantly identified homosexuality with a «perversion fasciste».

In this context, on August 6, 1942, a few months after the promulgation of the law on the status of Jews, France reintroduced a provision penalizing homosexuals.