(LifeSiteNews) — A Swiss writer and polemicist has been sentenced to 60 days in prison for calling a journalist a “fat lesbian.” The ruling was applauded by LGBT activist groups.
The Vaud Cantonal Court found the French-Swiss author Alain Soral guilty of discrimination and incitement to hatred. Soral announced that he will appeal the decision at the Federal Court and “if necessary” also before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR)., the Swiss outlet fm1today reports.
In 2021, Soral called journalist Catherine Macherel a “fat lesbian” and a “queer activist” in a Facebook video. He also suggested that being “queer” is synonymous with being disturbed or dysfunctional. Macherel filed a criminal complaint against Soral in September 2021. In April 2023, the public prosecutor’s office sentenced him to three months in prison for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The author appealed against this order.
The police court subsequently sentenced him to a fine of 30 daily fines of 50 francs. The Vaudois public prosecutor’s office, which had demanded a prison sentence of three months, took the case to the next instance, where he has now been sentenced to 60 days in prison.
Soral admitted that he made “somewhat vehement statements” but insisted that he was “not a homophobic activist, as the prosecution would like to make you believe.”
LGBT activist groups celebrate decision as ‘historic’ precedent
The verdict was made possible by a “hate speech” law approved by Swiss voters in 2020, which criminalizes “discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.”
READ: Michigan House passes ‘hate speech’ bill criminalizing criticism of transgender ideology
The lesbian organization LOS celebrated the conviction of Sorail, calling it a “historic ruling” and an important precedent. “The conviction of Alain Soral sends a strong signal that homophobic hatred will not be tolerated in our society,” Muriel Waeger, co-executive director of LOS said in a statement cited by fm1today.
The ruling is “a key moment for justice and the rights of LGBTIQ people in Switzerland” she stated. “It is a decisive step in the application of the article in the Criminal Code adopted by the Swiss electorate in 2020.”
The Swiss LGBT activist group Pink Cross also praised the court’s decision. “We welcome a strong signal that shows that not everything is allowed in Switzerland and that there are limits to hate,” commented Gaé Colussi, representative of Pink Cross for Western Switzerland. “One must not forget that such statements have a direct and worrying impact on the LGBTIQ community,” he added.
Alain Soral: A controversial figure
The mainstream media frequently refers to Soral as a “right-wing extremist,” however, the eccentric author has described himself as a Marxist in the past, and his political association, Égalité & Réconciliation (Equality and Reconciliation) claims to be a synthesis of left-wing and right-wing ideas. He was a member of the populist anti-immigration Party Front National (now called Rassemblement National) founded by Jean-Marie Le Pen from 2007 to 2009. In 2019, Soral was sentenced to prison in France for a drawing published in his publication Égalité & Réconciliation, which appeared to deny the Holocaust.