“Emilia Pérez” breakout star Karla Sofía Gascón, who won the best actress prize at Cannes Film Festival alongside Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz, has filed a complaint against French far-right politician Marion Marechal alleging “sexist insult due to one’s gender identity.”
The charges stem from a post on X in which Marechal, who is currently campaigning in European elections for the far-right Reconquête party, wrote upon Gascón’s win at Cannes that “it is therefore a man who receives in Cannes the prize for… best actress. The progress for the left wing is the erasing of women and mothers.”
The vitriolic social post sparked outrage within the LGBTQ community and beyond. Gascón’s lawsuit follows a complaint lodged by six LGBTQ groups on Monday for “transphobic insult.”
Speaking to Variety, Etienne Deshoulières, the lawyer who represents both Gascón and the LGBTQ organizations, said Gascón took legal action against Marechal to give weight to the joint complaint filed by the six activist groups and make it possible for Marechal to be condemned.
Marechal could be sentenced to a one-year imprisonment and fined €30,000 if she’s found guilty of transphobic insult; and €3,750 if she’s charged with “sexist insult due to one’s gender identity.” The legal notion of “sexist insult” was extended to protect transgender people in April 2023, said Deshoulières, who specializes in defending the rights of transgender people and co-wrote the book “Droits et libertés des personnes transgenres.” He said he took the initiative of contacting Gascón after a first complaint had been filed by the LGBTQ orgs. She was “very friendly and understood immediately what was at stake.”
“You could tell from her speech that she had endured a lot of discrimination and she had predicted that her win would stir transphobic comments on social media today and tomorrow,” Deshoulières continued.
Upon winning the joint best actress prize at Cannes, Gascón indeed delivered a tearful speech and dedicated it to all trans people “who suffer and must keep faith that changing is possible.” She became the first transgender woman to be awarded best actress at the Cannes Film Festival.
A Mexican redemption musical, “Emilia Pérez” stars Gascón as a feared drug cartel leader who seeks a gender-affirming surgery. Following its critically acclaimed world premiere, the movie was acquired by Netflix for the U.S. and the U.K. On top of the ensemble female acting prize, the film also picked up the jury prize.
Source Agencies
