First lady of France Brigitte Macron ‘to sue’ over rumours she is trans
French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Macron. (Getty/ Chesnot)
Brigitte Macron, wife of Emmanuel Macron and first lady of France, is reportedly planning to sue over a conspiracy theory that she is transgender.
The rumour has been widely circulated on French Twitter, and was originally disseminated by the far-right, anti-Semitic, anti-LGBT+ publication Faits et Documents or “Facts and Documents”.
According to the French publication Numerama, journalist Natacha Rey said she had undertaken a three-year investigation into Brigitte Macron and had spoken to “many experts”, leading her to the conclusion that the First Lady had been born “Jean-Michel Trogneux”.
Numerama described the conspiracy theory as both “sexist” and “transphobic”, as Macron has often been publicly criticised for her appearance, and it promotes the idea that being trans is shameful or dangerous. Many social media users spreading the theory have also linked being trans to paedophilia.
In Facebook posts, Rey claims that Macron’s children were conceived when she previously had a relationship with a cisgender woman.
She further detailed her “findings” in an interview with anti-vaxxer medium Amandine Roy that lasted almost four hours.
The hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux began trending on Twitter, with users claiming that “proof” of Macron being transgender included that there are few public photos of her in her youth, and that she often “hides her neck”.
Revealing her true intentions, Rey has also said that she has documents proving her theory that are kept “in a sealed envelope in the care of a lawyer”, and that she will release them on the day that France introduces vaccine mandates.
According to French magazine Marianne, French QAnon group the DeQodeurs even distanced itself from the theory, describing it as “too delusional”.
Macron is now planing to launch legal action against the creators of the conspiracy, according to Le Figaro.
Anti-LGBT+ conspiracy theorists targeting Brigitte Macron have previously gone after her husband
The claims about Brigitte Macron are the latest in a string of rumours about high-profile women in politics, like Michelle Obama and Jacinda Arden, being trans.
Conspiracy theorists have also claimed that French president Emmanuel Macron is gay, in an attempt to tarnish his image. The president has been linked to multiple men, including his ex-bodyguard Alexandre Benalla and Mathieu Gallet, the former head of Radio France, by conspiracy theorists.
He has publicly denied the rumours more than once, and in 2017 said: “I am who I am, I have never had anything to hide.
“I hear people saying that I have a secret life or something. It’s not nice for Brigitte and because I share all my days and nights with her, she asks me how do I manage it.
“If over dinners in the city, if on forwarded emails, you’re told that I have a double life with Mathieu Gallet or anyone else – then it’s my hologram that suddenly escaped, but it can’t be me.”
