French ‘mindsets evolving’ says country’s first openly-gay PM

PARIS, Jan 31 — France’s first openly-gay Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said French “mindsets are evolving” on LGBTQ issues in a major speech to lawmakers yesterday laying out his programme.

France was “tearing itself apart just 10 years ago over same-sex marriage,” Attal said, whereas “being French in 2024 means... being able to be prime minister and openly gay”.

He added in a keynote address to the National Assembly lower house that this was “proof our country is moving and mindsets are evolving”.

It was the first time the prime minister has referenced his sexual orientation so directly since his installation earlier this month, which was hailed by LGBTQ groups as “a powerful symbol”.

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But his orientation has caused barely a ripple in wider public debate that has more often seen the 34-year-old attacked as a carbon copy of his polarising boss, President Emmanuel Macron.

Stephane Sejourne, a senior Macron party leader who was for a time in a civil partnership with Attal, was named as foreign minister in the cabinet reshuffle that followed his naming as prime minister. — AFP

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