French right-wing senator Stéphane Ravier has accused a Marseille LGBT bar of promoting “unrestrained Christianophobia” after it hosted a satirical party on the Catholic feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
The event held at Le Boum, an LGBT venue in the cours Julien district of Marseille, southern France, was advertised as the “Fête de la v(i)erge”, a play on the French words for “Virgin” (vierge) and “phallus” (verge). The bar opened in October 2022 and stages drag shows, queer performance and comedy nights.
The event’s promotional material presented it as a humorous celebration featuring a mock “blessing by the Holy Phallus”, followed by a quiz on the sexuality of religious figures, a drag queen show and a DJ set. In an Instagram post cited by La Dépêche du Midi, the organisers wrote that August 15 was the day Catholics headed for Lourdes and proposed reclaiming the date for their own purposes.
The Assumption, celebrated on August 15, is one of the principal feasts of the Catholic Church. In Marseille, the day has particular significance because of the city’s devotion to Notre-Dame de la Garde, commonly known as la Bonne Mère, the “Good Mother”, whose basilica overlooks the city. A torchlight procession climbed to the basilica on the evening of August 14, followed by masses through the following day and a procession of the Virgin through the Panier district.
In a video published on social media on August 14, Ravier condemned the event as an attack on Christianity.
“August 15 is an important date for Christians throughout the world since it is the day of the Assumption,” Ravier said. “For us Marseillais, it is even more important, since it is the Good Mother, the Holy Virgin, who watches over Marseille.”
“The opportunity was too good for the Christianophobes, and particularly Marseille’s Christianophobes, to make themselves heard,” he added.
Ravier singled out the bar’s manager, Théo Challande-Névoret, who served as a deputy to Marseille mayor Benoît Payan with responsibility for local democracy and combating discrimination. The senator questioned whether Payan approved of the event and accused the Marseille Left of tolerating hostility towards Christianity.
“All the ingredients are there to vomit on Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular,” Ravier said, calling the event “disgusting”, “ignoble”, “foul” and “insulting”. He added that he wanted to know what Payan made of it.
Ravier also criticised the political background of people associated with the establishment, making allegations about their links to the French Left and anti-fascist activism.
He further argued that the organisers would be unlikely to stage a comparable event mocking Islam, claiming that doing so could provoke a violent reaction.
“They wouldn’t dare do the same thing on the day of Eid al-Adha,” he said, arguing that “some people would use very persuasive means to make themselves respected.”
In a post on X carrying the video, he wrote that the organisers would never have the courage to mock Islam because they would be risking their lives.
His comments reflect a recurring argument among sections of the French Right that Christianity is treated more permissively as an object of ridicule than other religions.
The controversy also highlights the limits of France’s legal protection for religious beliefs.
Blasphemy is not a criminal offence under French law, and freedom of expression protects criticism and satire directed at religions, beliefs and religious symbols. “Christianophobia” is not, in itself, a recognised legal offence.
The offence disappeared from French law with the press law of July 29, 1881. Its last remnant, article 166 of the local penal code applying in Alsace-Moselle, was repealed by the equality and citizenship law of January 27, 2017.
French law does, though, prohibit incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence against people on the basis of their religion, under article 24 of the same 1881 law.
The former member of French right-wing parties National Rally (RN) and Reconquête (Reconquest) has repeatedly campaigned on issues surrounding Christianity, secularism and immigration. He sat with the RN from 1991 until 2022, when he joined Éric Zemmour’s Reconquête, and left that party in 2024. In December 2025 he denounced graffiti daubed on a church in the fourth arrondissement of Marseille.
In his video, he also claimed that Le Boum was experiencing financial difficulties and accused the establishment of excessive “community activism”. He cited comments allegedly left by customers complaining about the venue’s political atmosphere and alleged discrimination against white or right-wing customers.
Those claims rest on Ravier’s account alone. Brussels Signal has found no independent record of the bar’s financial position or of the customer complaints he described.
