On Wednesday, November 22, France's Sénat passed a bill relating to the thousands of men and women convicted of homosexuality by the French state up to 1982 was discussed in the Sénat. Should this bill be approved by Parliament, France would allocate an allowance to each victim who applies to an ad hoc reparation commission.

To date, one unknown remains: How many people have been convicted of homosexuality in France?

Tabled on August 6, 2022 at the initiative of Socialist Senator Hussein Bourgi, the bill echoes the celebration by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, on August 4 of that same year, of "40 years since the end of all repression of homosexuality in French criminal law."

On that occasion, Borne recalled that, in the darkest hours of the Second World War, on August 6, 1942, France re-introduced discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation into its penal code: Article 331.3 punished "immodest and unnatural" acts with a minor of the same sex.

Disgrace, dismissal, broken family ties

Then, in 1960, homosexuality was categorized as a "social scourge," increasing the penalties for "against-nature" public indecency "with an individual of the same sex" (Article 330.2). In concrete terms, two mutually consenting men or women risked three years' imprisonment and a fine of 15,000 francs (around €25,000 today).

The silent victims of this repression are certainly numerous but difficult to track down. Only a few of them have agreed to testify and speak to the consequences for conviction of homosexuality: opprobrium, dismissal, broken family ties, and even "social death."

What's more, until now, no one has been able to objectively answer the question, "How many people have been convicted of homosexuality?"

Even the Ministry of Justice, which is usually keen to produce figures, doesn't have the answer. The only certainty is that, according to judicial statistics, 9,566 prison sentences and fines were handed down for the "offense of homosexuality" (article 331.3) between 1945 and 1978. However, the figures for the years 1942 to 1945 and 1978 to 1982 are not reported.

Despite these shortcomings, and thanks to judicial statistics, a few broad outlines have emerged: All social categories were represented among those convicted of the offense of homosexuality. A third of those convicted were married, and a quarter were parents. Convictions under Article 331.3, however, were just one of the ways in which homosexuality was punished under criminal law.

No statistics

In fact, the highest number of convictions was under the offense of public indecency: over 160,000 between 1942 and 1982. And this is where things get complicated. Judicial statistics have never distinguished between homosexual and heterosexual public indecent acts.

You have 55% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.