Several party members reportedly said the list was drawn up using criteria related to sexual orientation, with some candidates allegedly being promoted “because they are homosexual”, journalist Jules Laurans said on 100% Frontières.
A source within the party also claimed that, among the Ecologists Party, “sexual orientation” is a determining factor.
The list was never acted on after David Belliard, the party’s chosen candidate, threw his support behind socialist Emmanuel Grégoire, who was polling at over 30 per cent for the first-round vote on March 15. The second round is due on March 22.
It appears that the list may not have been acting as a support for homosexual candidates. Sabrina Decanton, the Greens Party candidate in Saint-Ouen, a working-class area in Seine-Saint-Denis, on November 25 withdrew from the elections, denouncing what she said were homophobic remarks within her political party.
“For several months, I have been the target of homophobia,” she claimed.
“My sexual orientation is being treated as an obstacle to my candidacy and a potential victory, with some people believing it would be incompatible with the support of the neighbourhoods in my constituency, which are largely working-class,” she said at the time.
