Anti-gay marriage advocate Laurence Garnier, tipped to become Minister of the Family, provokes outcry

Opposed to marriage for all and to the inclusion in the Constitution of the freedom to resort to abortion: the profile of LR senator Laurence Garnier, expected to be the Minister of Families, has made the left and part of the presidential camp jump, who denounce a « provocation ».

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The 46-year-old elected official from Nantes, leader of the opposition to the socialist mayor Johanna Rolland, is part of the casting submitted by the LR for the future government of Prime Minister Michel Barnier, according to several sources within the right-wing party and the central bloc.

This choice provoked an immediate outcry, due to the past positions taken by this parliamentarian close to Bruno Retailleau, head of the LR senators himself proposed for the Interior.

“A delicate profile” for Emmanuel Macron

“Laurence Garnier is a very right-wing woman, who has had social commitments that I have always fought against. In this position, it is not a good sign. It is a symbol that is given”worried the leader of the socialist senators Patrick Kanner, who sits with Laurence Garnier on the culture and education commission of the Senate, on BFMTV.

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According to an advisor to the executive, Emmanuel Macron alerted the Prime Minister about the “delicate profile” of the senator and many wondered Friday if her presence in the government was not already threatened.

“I have no words. Just a crazy anger”launched on X the rebellious MEP Manon Aubry. Her colleague LFI deputy Sarah Legrain mentioned a “huge provocation” if the name of Laurence Garnier was confirmed.

Laurence Garnier, if she were appointed, would be the opposite of the outgoing minister, MoDem Sarah El Haïry, the first female minister to make public her homosexuality and her pregnancy resulting from medically assisted procreation (MAP).

“Laurence Garnier at the Family, you have to see what it’s like!” Guillaume Gouffier Valente, a deputy from the left wing of the presidential Renaissance party, also expressed his disapproval of X, targeting Laurence Garnier without naming her.

“Some rumors of government appointments are particularly worrying regarding the defense of the rights of women and LGBTQ+ people. These fights will never be negotiable.”he wrote, asking “an extremely clear positioning” to Michel Barnier during his general policy statement.

Support for the Demonstration for All

Senator since 2020, Laurence Garnier led the examination of a LREM bill in 2021 for a “real economic and professional equality” which established quotas for women in management positions in large companies.

But her positions on sexuality and reproductive health are worrying. In 2013, Laurence Garnier opposed same-sex marriage and supported the Manif pour tous (against gay marriage).

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In 2021, she also opposed the creation of an offence punishing conversion therapy, practices aimed at imposing heterosexuality on LGBT people.

And in February 2024, she voted against enshrining in the Constitution the guaranteed freedom to abort: “Our fellow citizens expect the government to take care of getting our country back on track, rather than dealing with problems that don’t exist.”she justified.

Concern of LGBT associations

A few weeks later, she approved a controversial Senate bill aimed at regulating gender transitions among minors, notably by prohibiting the prescription of cross-sex hormones and by very strictly conditioning the administration of “puberty blockers” to these young people.

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“As an association working for equal LGBTI rights, we are concerned about Laurence Garnier’s ability to defend the rights of all families!”the Gaylib association, which campaigns for the freedoms of LGBT people, expressed its alarm on X.

A former executive at PSA Peugeot Citroën, Laurence Garnier has been a municipal councilor in Nantes since 2008 and was vice-president of the Pays de la Loire region from 2015 to 2020, in particular responsible for Culture.

Her detractors remember that she withheld funding from the LGBT film festival Cinépride in Nantes, considering that its organizers had promoted surrogacy.