While hard-right and far-right organizations and media are campaigning against gender-related mentions, Anne Genetet has a few days to validate the text which will come into force next year.
Faced with the conservative offensive, will Anne Genetet back down? While the education program for emotional, relational and emotional life must be presented in mid-December to the Higher Council of Education (CSE), before its official publication, the Ministry of National Education seems to get lost in the content of the text promised in 2023 by the former holder of the post, Pap Ndiaye. The objective is to implement the three annual sessions which have been compulsory since 2001, but which are rarely offered to students in practice.
The current minister Anne Genetet insisted, Thursday, November 28, that “the gender theory does not exist, it does not exist in the program either. But his partner Alexandre Portier, delegate for Academic Success, estimated on Wednesday that the project was not “not acceptable”. He is committed to the “gender theory” and the “activism” do not find “place in our schools”, in response to elected official LR Max Brisson who asked that the text be “redacted” of “all traces of wokism”. Concepts conveyed by the extreme right and the traditional Catholic right, yet devoid of any scientific basis.
“Gender theory” is not used randomly by Alexandre Portier. While the expression aims to denounce a supposed ideology invading society and creating confusion between identities and gender, this is precisely what family associations close to the hard right and the extreme right criticize in the text designed by the Higher Programs Council. The Family Union (formerly Manif pour tous) and SOS Education have even launched petitions and collected tens of thousands of signatures, at least to revise this program.
Ludovine de La Rochère, president of the Family Union, deplores in the latest version of the text a “militant sociology” in connection with a “caricatural neo-feminist vision”. She cites the gender stereotypes discussed from CM1 onwards: “We don't have to be intrusive with regard to the mental representations of children. Of course, there are inequalities and we have to act, but this comes from a very ideological point of view.” The link between gender stereotypes, inequalities and discrimination is nevertheless recognized even at the UN.
Like other conservative, even reactionary, associations, it judges that gender identity has no place in the program. “DWhat right can we come into classrooms to challenge students' sexual identity?” In the text under construction, consulted by franceinfo, it is not a question of imposing, but of “define”, in fifth grade, “the notions of freedom, respect and equality regarding sex, gender identity and sexual orientation”. In fourth grade, students are also offered“consider sexuality as a unique personal journey and understand its diversity of expression, including through asexuality”.
This tension in the conservative sphere, amplified by the words of Alexandre Portier, seems to cause a wave of panic on rue de Grenelle. According to information from franceinfo, the ministry plans to delete certain references to gender identity in the program, currently 17 in number. THE Anne Genetet's cabinet had also, initially on Wednesday evening, affirmed that her minister was “aligned” with the speech of his colleague in charge of Academic Success, including on “gender theory”.
Traveling to Marcq-en-Barœul (North) on Thursday, Anne Genetet finally reframed Alexandre Portier. Before defending the issues of a program “very clear”, “progressive”, “suitable for all ages”, which is due to come into force in September 2025. According to her, the text in preparation “allows you to learn fundamental notions such as respect, consent, knowing how to say no, what a girl is, what a boy is”.
The minister also denied a rumor relayed by the conservative sphere: “It’s a program in which we don’t learn about sexual practices, obviously.” Teachers' unions have been warning for several weeks about the distribution of misleading leaflets around schools, which falsely claim that students will learn to masturbate.
From now on, prevention associations and all teaching unions expect Anne Genetet to firmly distance herself from Alexandre Portier by not backing down not on the content of the program. “L“awakening to emotional and sexual life is not 'militancy', but education to respect oneself and to respect others”pleads on X SOS Homophobia. “The FSU-SNUipp will defend this project against all the reactionaries, and the minister will have to defend it too”warns Guislaine David, spokesperson for this primary union, on the same social network.
“At a time when a conservative offensive, as minority as it is determined, is orchestrating disinformation and exploiting parental fears, and is visibly finding a powerful political echo, it is imperative to collectively speak louder”with a whisk Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, former Minister of National Education, in a column published by Liberation. This pressure also comes from media belonging to Catholic billionaire Vincent Bolloré. Examples on the CNews set or with the latest front page of JDDwhich suggests that children are “a danger”.
“In any case, with six hours a year, we are not going to brainwash many people”quips Jean-Rémi Girard, president of Snalc. While three children per class are victims of incest each year in France, according to the Independent Commission on Incest and Sexual Violence Against Children (Ciivise), the trade unionist recalls that the sexuality education program is above all a prevention tool. “We can clearly see that violence can also come from the family. The school must offer this space for discussion.”
The fact remains that this divide between the two ministers does not surprise Claude Lelièvre, education historian. “C’is enlightening about our political situation. Alexandre Portier, who is part of the right wing of the government, seems to be under pressure from the far right and feels obliged to take it into account.”analyzes the specialist.
He also recalls that, from the end of the 1960s to the beginning of the 2010s, the offensive against questions of sexuality in schools came mainly from Catholics. In 2013, at the time of the ABCD of equality (an experiment aimed at combating girl-boy stereotypes), other conservative fringes joined them in their fight. Part of the UMP and La Manif pour tous, among others, then denounced the teaching of this supposed “gender theory”. “There was a slanderous campaign”recalls Claude Lelièvre. In June 2014, National Education, after a year of experimentation, finally gave up on generalizing the operation.
Since this episode, the historian has noticed that Eric Zemmour's far right has made this “gender theory” its hobbyhorse at school. Unsurprisingly, Vigilant Parents, an association created by Zemmourist supporters, today denounces the education program for emotional, relational and sexual life.
On Friday, Catholic teaching also officially rallied to the cause of these opponents, calling for the current text to be revised. In a joint press release, the general secretariat of Catholic Education and the Free Education Parents' Association believe that the program must remain “impermeable to any ideological influence” and not to “substitute” to the educational responsibility of parents.
The passage of the final text in the CSE in mid-December will make it possible to see whether, yes or not, the government has given in to these pressures. In an opinion delivered in September(New window)the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) precisely pointed out the lack of political ambition about sexuality education, “partly due to a certain reluctance on the part of public authorities who wish to avoid controversies”.
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