As the French government prepares to call a final vote on the nation's gay marriage bill, opponents of the legislation have become increasingly outspoken. In response to particularly incendiary comments by comedienne Frigide Barjot, a gay man penned an open letter expressing his contempt for her recent remarks.
Barjot, whose real name is Virginie Tellenne, has become in recent months a figurehead for anti-gay marriage movement "Demonstration for all" and has led mass protests against the sweeping social reform. In front of the French Senate Friday, shortly after the so-called "marriage for all" legislation was passed, Barjot shouted, "Hollande wants blood, he will have it! All of the world is furious. We live in a dictatorship."
While many on social media took issue with Barjot's sentiments, Alexandre Dousson -- who claims to have known the critical comic for 15 years -- posted his own Facebook message (translated by The Huffington Post) on Saturday. Wrote Dousson:
Open letter to Frigide Barjot. My Frigide, because you called me my Alex, in the 15 years that I've known you, I address you one last time. I have fond memories with you, you know my family, I had brunch at your house, I offered you my arm on the red carpet of the Festival of Deauville, we dined at the Opera Garnier, I organized a number of parties for you and your husband… But never mind, I am gay, in favor of equal rights and the democratic opportunity since I consistently vote as a conscientious citizen. Your last remarks gave me nausea. You have overstepped all bounds and you are from this point forward a public danger. With your call of blood ... You opened Pandora's box of homophobia and I will never forgive you. I wish that the cart of s--t that you raised falls on you and masks the putrid odor of your words. In the bonfire of the vanities where you will surely end up, burn in the small fire and do not pray to your God -- that will not serve anything -- he will surely be the last one to defend you, as your words and the stature you give yourself are only a masquerade for the ones who know your past. I will stop here and I thank Facebook for having invented the function "to remove a contact" which will be the final pleasure that I grant to you.
More than 18,000 users "liked" Dousson's open letter to Barjot, and thousands of others shared the Facebook post.
Dousson is not alone in his criticism. French journalist Karl Zéro also had some words for Barjot, who happens to be his sister-in-law. In his own open letter, Zéro sounded surprised at Barjot's rant at the Senate. Fearing that she is acting without thinking and failing to take the potential consequences of her actions into account, he warned her stop her vitriol.
As protests against the legislation continue, about 70 anti-gay marriage protesters were arrested outside the National Assembly Monday, Reuters reports. The French government has since hastened the legislation's approval process and has moved up the date of the final vote to April 23.
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