28 June 2024
(Fr) Cannes trans award winner files complaint over politician's alleged online 'sexist insult'
The first transgender woman to win the Best Actress award at Cannes is taking legal action against French far right politician Marion Marechal for calling her “a man” on X.
Karla Sofía Gascón, who played a Mexican drug trafficker in the Spanish language comedy Emilia Perez, filed a complaint about Marechal’s post with the Paris Public Prosecutor in late May.
Marechal, the niece of former French Presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, had written: “So a man has won best actress. Progress for the left means the erasure of women and mothers.”
Gascón alleges the post constitutes a “sexist insult due to one’s gender identity”, an offence that was added to the French Criminal Code last year.
The complaint follows a separate complaint about Marechal’s post that has been filed by six French LGBT groups for the offence of “transphobic insult”.
Marechal said in response: “I will not be prevented from continuing to say what is the truth. Being a woman or a man is a biological reality, whether you like it or not. The XX or XY chromosomes cannot be surpassed”.
The developments coincide with the recent introduction in Scotland of new offences for threatening or abusive behaviour intended to stir up hatred based on prejudice towards various characteristics - including transgender identity.
Prior to the introduction of those laws, there had been concern in the UK that they could be used maliciously against certain groups for expressing their opinions, in particular gender-critical feminists.
At the time, the convener of Holyrood’s justice committee defended the new laws, saying: “Asserting that sex is a biological fact or that it is not changed just by virtue of the gender by which someone chooses to identify is not and never can be a hate crime under this legislation.”
zoom-in will continue to follow the complaints against Marechal – and any key cases brought under Scotland’s new hate crime law – over the coming months.
Defamation (US): Netflix settles ‘When They See Us’ defamation case
Netflix has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by former New York City prosecutor Linda Fairstein over the way she was portrayed in the 2019 drama When They See Us.
Fairstein had claimed the series, about the wrongful conviction of five teenagers for an attack on a woman jogging in Central Park in the 1980s, depicted her as a "racist, unethical villain".
The prosecutor had been in charge of sex crime cases in Manhattan at the time and said she had taken action against Netflix in order to set the historical record straight.
As part of the settlement, the streamer has reportedly agreed to donate money to an organisation that aims to exonerate people who've been wrongly convicted.
It has also agreed to add a disclaimer to the beginning of each episode, rather than in the credits as it had previously.
The disclaimer now reads: “While the motion picture is inspired by actual events and persons, certain characters, incidents, locations, dialogue, and names are fictionalized for the purposes of dramatization.”
The settlement follows a number of cases brought by people who claim they have been defamed by the way they were depicted in scripted programmes based on real events.
University academic Richard Taylor is suing the makers of The Lost King claiming the Steve Coogan film, about the discovery of Richard III’s grave in a Leicester car park, portrays him as "weasel-like".
And Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey recently filed a defamation claim in the USA over hit drama Baby Reindeer which she says falsely depicts her as a convicted criminal who spent time in prison for stalking.
In both cases, the programme makers have said they will vigorously defend the programmes, but the claims have generated commentary in the media about the wording of, and effectiveness, of programme disclaimer wording.
zoom-in is continuing to follow developments and will report on the outcomes in The Lost King and Baby Reindeer cases in due course.
Reporting Restrictions (NI): High Court declares Northern Ireland law ban on identification of suspected sex offenders unlawful
The Northern Ireland law banning the naming of suspected sex offenders until they are charged has been declared unlawful because it was incompatible with the right to freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
As previously reported in zoom-in, the law came into effect last year granting anonymity for life and 25 years after death of anyone suspected of sexual offences in Northern Ireland who had not been charged.
Media groups challenged the law claiming it criminalised investigative journalism into sexual abuse which can facilitate the investigation of crime and encourage other complainants to come forward. As an example, it could have prevented allegations about Jimmy Savile in Northern Ireland being published after his death – clearly a matter of public interest.
The High Court found that in two significant respects the legislation failed to strike a fair balance between the rights of suspects and those of the media. First, by criminalising publications without providing a public interest defence and second, by failing to provide a process by which media organisations could apply to the court to have the prohibition on publication modified or revoked on public interest grounds during the suspect’s lifetime. This meant that there was no effective remedy to enable the Article 10 rights of the media to be protected, which could have a chilling effect on public interest journalism.
The Northern Ireland Justice Minister has not ruled out an appeal against the decision and has until 12 July to launch an appeal.
NOTE: the provisions granting anonymity to alleged victims of sexual offences in Northern Ireland for life, and for 25 years after their death, remain lawful and in force, breach of which would be a criminal offence.
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