Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

. She served as a member of the

French National Assembly The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are kn ...

representing

Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Minister of Housing and Urban Development The Minister of Housing is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the government's house-building programme. The position was established in 1938 as Minister in charge of Housing, and has most commonly been known a ...

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

. She was a candidate in the

2002 French presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 April 2002, with a runoff election between the top two candidates, incumbent Jacques Chirac of the Rally for the Republic and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front, on 5 May. This presidential ...

, in which she scored 1.19% on the first round of balloting. Boutin was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Parti Chrétien-démocrate), a

socially conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...

Christian-democratic Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism. It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...

party, which is associated with the greater UMP union party. She is best known for her very vocal opposition to

civil union A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

s in 1998 and

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

later on. In a judgement dated 18 December 2015 the correctional court of Paris condemned Boutin to a fine of €5000 and €2000 for legal damages for having said that homosexuality was an abomination. The verdict is being appealed. She announced on 21 October 2017 that she was leaving politics, resigning as departmental councillor for

Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Levroux Levroux () is a commune in the Indre department in central France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territori ...

, Indre. She married her cousin Louis Boutin in 1967 with whom she had three children (the contradiction between her strong advocacy of Catholic dogmas and marrying one's first cousin remaining strictly forbidden by canon law is often pointed out). She entered politics in 1977 as a city council member of the village of

Auffargis Auffargis () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. Population See also *Communes of the Yvelines department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degre ...

. In 1980 she was elected its

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

. Boutin was elected to the National Assembly in 1986. In 1993, Boutin founded the

anti-abortion Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respo ...

NGO ''Alliance pour les droits de la vie'' (ADV) (English: ''Alliance for Human Life''), considered the largest anti-abortion organization in France. The same year, she became a consultant for the

Pontifical Council for the Family The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...

headed by Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo. In 1998, Boutin became somewhat famous because of a five-hour speech in opposition to the PACS

domestic partnership A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee ...

plan, arguing that its adoption by the government would encourage homosexuality. She held a Bible during the speech, an image which would later become associated with her. In 2002, Boutin who had been a member of the UDF party, joined the UMP when it was founded. In a UMP rally that same year, where Boutin spoke,

ACT UP AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy ...

Paris protested with a banner calling Boutin

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

. In 2006, Boutin supported the "global license" flat-fee authorization for sharing of copyrighted files over the Internet in a heated parliamentary debate on the

DADVSI Loi DADVSI (generally pronounced as ''dadsi'') is the abbreviation of the French ''Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l’information'' (in English: "law on authors' rights and related rights in the infor ...

law. She also has been an advocate for a

guaranteed minimum income Guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also called minimum income (or mincome for short), is a social-welfare system that guarantees all citizens or families an income sufficient to live on, provided that certain eligibility conditions are met, typica ...

, as well as expanded

housing rights Housing, or more generally, living spaces, refers to the construction and assigned usage of houses or buildings individually or collectively, for the purpose of shelter. Housing ensures that members of society have a place to live, whether ...

(''Droit au logement''). She has considered the situation of

prisons in France Asia and Oceania Australia Many prisons in Australia were built by convict labour in the 19th century. During the 1990s, various state governments in Australia engaged private sector correctional corporations to build and operate prisons whi ...

to be a scandal and has argued for a drastic reduction of inmates as well as improving their life-conditions. In December 2006, Boutin announced that she would not be a candidate for the

2007 French Presidential election Presidential elections were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as president of France (and ''ex officio'' Co-Prince of Andorra) for a five-year term. As no candidate received a majority of the vote, ...

and pledged her support for the Conservative candidate

. On 18 May 2007, after Sarkozy's victory in the presidential election, Boutin was named Minister of Housing and the City in the government of Prime Minister

François Fillon François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...

. She has taken as advisors the

activist Christine de Chefdebien, controversial for a 1992 anti-abortion occupation of a hospital, and the priest Jean-Marie Petitclerc. Boutin has a liberal view on condom use in Africa to prevent AIDS, saying that contraceptives were necessary, appearing to contradict an earlier view by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereig ...

. She has however been critical of contraception outside of the AIDS context in Africa. In October 2012, Christine Boutin stated that she remained strongly opposed to same-sex marriage, claiming that it would lead to polygamy. Around the same time, it was also revealed that she received €800,000 from the UMP before deciding not to run for the forthcoming

presidential election A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The p ...

against its candidate,

. On a tweet of 14 May 2013 she derided

Angelina Jolie Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...

's cancer prevention treatment as a sex reassignment procedure; her tweet was widely criticized, but she has not apologized. In 2014, Christine Boutin launched the "Force Vie" list for the 2014 European elections, and failed to secure the 3% of votes required for reimbursement of campaign expenses in any constituency. In the second round of the

2017 French presidential election The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a Two-round system, runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of La République En Marche!, En Ma ...

, she supported

Marine Le Pen Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen (; born 5 August 1968) is a French lawyer and politician who ran for the French presidency in 2012, 2017, and 2022. A member of the National Rally (RN; previously the National Front, FN), she served as its ...

. In 2022, Boutin announced that she was supporting

Éric Zemmour Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right politician, essayist, writer and former political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show broadcast on CNews, from 2019 to ...

and had joined

Reconquête Reconquête (; en, Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, ...

9/11

In a November 2006 interview, published in 2007, Boutin stated that George W. Bush might have been behind the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. When asked if she believed that the Bush administration was behind the 9/11 attacks, Boutin replied:

I think that it's possible... I think it is possible. I think it more especially as I know that the sites that speak of this problem are the sites that have the greatest numbers of visits.... And so, I tell myself, I who am extremely sensitive ... to the new techniques of information and communication, that this expression of the mass of the people cannot be without any truth. I'm not telling you that I adhere to that position, but let's say that, nevertheless, I'm questioning myself a bit on this question.

Political functions

Governmental function Minister of Housing and Urban : 2007–2009. Electoral mandates ''National Assembly of France'' Member of the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are know ...

for

Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Yvelines Yvelines () is a Departments of France, department in the western part of the Île-de-France Regions of France, region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

: 1980–1983. Municipal councillor of

: 1977–1983 Deputy-mayor of

Rambouillet Rambouillet (, , ) is a subprefecture of the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region of France. It is located beyond the outskirts of Paris, southwest of its centre. In 2018, the commune had a population of 26,933. Rambouillet lie ...

: 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995. Municipal councillor of

: 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boutin, Christine 1944 births Living people People from Indre French Roman Catholics Centre of Social Democrats politicians Union for French Democracy politicians Christian Democratic Party (France) politicians Government ministers of France Mayors of places in Île-de-France People from Yvelines Politicians from Centre-Val de Loire Female critics of feminism French anti-abortion activists Women mayors of places in France 9/11 conspiracy theorists Women government ministers of France 20th-century French women politicians 21st-century French women politicians French politicians convicted of crimes French female criminals Candidates in the 2002 French presidential election Women members of the National Assembly (France) Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic French conspiracy theorists Reconquête politicians