Christian Vanneste (born 14 July 1947) is a French

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. He served two terms as a deputy in the

French Parliament The French Parliament (, ) is the Bicameralism, bicameral parliament of the French Fifth Republic, consisting of the Senate (France), Senate (), and the National Assembly (France), National Assembly (). Each assembly conducts legislative sessi ...

(2002-2012), representing the

Union for a Popular Movement The Union for a Popular Movement ( ; UMP ) was a Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative List of political parties in France, political party in France, largely inspired by the Gaullism, Gaullist tradition. During its existence, the UMP was o ...

(UMP).

Career

A member of the

, he was elected in the 10th constituency of Nord. He sat with the parliamentary group of the

(UMP). In 2005/2006, he reported on the controversial DADVSI copyright bill. He was beaten in the first round of the June 2012 legislative elections.

Controversy

In January 2006, Vanneste became the first French citizen to be fined €3,000 (in the first instance, but later relaxed) for his homophobic remarks. During a debate in the

National Assembly of France The National Assembly (, ) is the lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral French Parliament under the French Fifth Republic, Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (France), Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known ...

, and afterwards in the media, he declared homosexual behavior a threat to the survival of humanity, and "morally inferior" to heterosexuality. The judgement, after a refused appeal, was eventually cancelled by the Cour de cassation on 12 November 2008. In 2012, Vanneste again encountered controversy after referring to the deportation from France of homosexuals in the Holocaust as a "famous legend", though he acknowledges that they were persecuted in other parts of the Reich. Vanneste may or may not face

Holocaust denial Historical negationism, Denial of the Holocaust is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that asserts that the genocide of Jews by the Nazi Party, Nazis is a fabrication or exaggeration. It includes making one or more of the following false claims: ...

charges for the comment. He nevertheless received the support of Serge Klarsfeld the famous French "nazi-hunter".

Dominique de Villepin Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin (; born 14 November 1953) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007 under President Jacques Chirac. In his career working at the Ministry ...

, the former French Prime Minister also admitted that "on historical grounds", his comments were true. He belongs to the Club de l'horloge (today Carrefour de l'horloge).See Philippe Lamy's thesis: http://www.theses.fr/2016PA080034/document.

References

External links

Webpage at the Assemblée Nationale website
(in French)
Official blog
(in French) 1947 births Living people Carrefour de l'horloge people Politicians from Hauts-de-France People from Tourcoing Rally for the Republic politicians National Centre of Independents and Peasants politicians Union for a Popular Movement politicians The Popular Right Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic {{France-politician-RPR-stub