Hundreds celebrate death of far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen in Paris – some waving Pride flags
People gather at Place de la Republique ‘to celebrate’ the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, French far-right National Front founder, in Paris, France on January 7, 2025. (Getty)
Hundreds of people have celebrated the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the founder of France’s far-right movement, in Paris, with some seen waving LGBTQ+ Pride flags.
On Tuesday (7 January), Le Pen died “surrounded by his loved ones”, AFP reported. He had been in a care facility for several weeks.
The founder of the National Front, now called the National Rally, once described being gay as a biological anomaly as well as a “personal choice” and said “paedophilia” had its “roots… in the admiration of homosexuality.”
Throughout his political career he faced allegations of homophobia, racism and antisemitism. He infamously dismissed the gas chambers used by the Nazis to murder Jews in the Holocaust as a “mere detail” of history and was convicted and fined several times for contesting crimes against humanity, The Guardian reported.
Following news of his death, Le Pen’s many critics – including members of the LGBTQ+ community – gathered at the Place de la République in Paris to publicly celebrate his passing.
One video, posted to X on the day of Jean-Marie Le Pen’s death, shows hundreds of people gathered in the large public square waving Pride flags, with one person seen shooting confetti from a bottle – a symbolic repudiation of the far-right ideology Le Pen championed, particularly his opposition to LGBTQ+ rights.
celebrating Jean-Marie Le Pen departing this world at Republique 🇫🇷🥳 pic.twitter.com/wAea8CloTh
— Louis Pisano (@LouisPisano) January 7, 2025
Comments under the post express jubilation at Jean-Marie Le Pen’s passing, with many writing “Vive la France” (“Long live France” in English).
One commenter shared, recalling an anti-racism slogan from the 1980s: “I am a 51-year-old Portuguese woman. I was born in France and I returned to Portugal when I was 12, but I never forgot Le Pen and my red badge ‘don’t touch my friend’ and I am with you!”
“Good riddance to bad trash,” another person wrote under the clip.
A different video captures a crowd of thousands cheering as fireworks light up the sky, accompanied by chants of “Vive la France.”
We are told constantly that Europe is turning to the far right.
— Otto English (@Otto_English) January 7, 2025
Here are the celebrations as France comes to terms with the death of Jean-Marie Le Pen
Il est mort! #LePenEstMortpic.twitter.com/1YzKvayrxC
His death also caused the hashtag and caption “No one mourns the wicked” to trend in France. The phrase comes from the Broadway musical Wicked, which was recently adapted into a movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.
“NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED” is trending in France following the death of far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. pic.twitter.com/99WWLwhTxq
— arianators wildin (@arianatorswildt) January 7, 2025
Le Pen’s youngest daughter, Marine Le Pen, took over the leadership of the National Rally in 2011, and threw her father out of the movement four years later in a bid to distance herself from the controversies surrounding him.
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