Rififi au FN : l'aile traditionaliste accuse Marine Le Pen de faire entrer des homos dans l’organigramme du parti

>> Front National fear of ‘gay lobby’: Marine Le Pen appoints Sébastien Chenu as cultural adviser : Party traditionalists allege that over half of senior FN figures promoted since Ms Le Pen replaced her father as leader are homosexual

« De profondes divisions sont apparues publiquement au sein du Front national (FN) après la nomination par Marine Le Pen de Sébastien Chenu, fondateur du mouvement GayLib en France [mouvement LGBT de droite et de centre droit, proche de l’Union des démocrates indépendants (UDI)] intervient juste après la publication par le magazine people Closer de photos de Florian Philippot avec son compagnon.

« Ces deux événements ont fait remonter à la surface des tensions étouffées depuis longtemps au sein du FN – et plus généralement au sein de l »extrême droite française – sur le supposé lobby gay qui entourerait Marine Le Pen », note le quotidien britannique. Selon un membre du FN, Laurent Brice, cité par The Independent, « Marine Le Pen serait devenue une icône gay pour de nombreux homosexuels de droite : ils aiment son relatif libéralisme sur les questions de société et, surtout, ils adorent son opposition virulente à l’islam, qui fait de l’homosexualité un péché mortel. »

« La ‘prise’ de Sébastien Chenu – ancien conseiller de Nicolas Sarkozy – a été violemment dénoncée par l’aile traditionaliste du bureau politique du FN, une rébellion menée par Bruno Gollnisch et Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, la nièce de la présidente », explique le quotidien de Londres.

Source : courrierinternational.com

>> The deep rifts within Marine Le Pen’s far right movement in France have been exposed by the appointment of a senior gay activist as her “cultural” adviser.

The recruitment of Sébastien Chenu, founder of the GayLib movement in France, came shortly after the magazine Closer outed a senior figure in the Front National, Florian Philippot.

Although Mr Philippot’s sexual orientation was well-known in the Parisian political-media village, it was not generally known to FN grass-roots voters.

The two events have brought to the surface long-suppressed tensions within the FN – and the even wilder shores of the French far right – over an alleged “gay lobby” surrounding Ms Le Pen.

According to one FN official, Laurent Brice, Ms Le Pen has become a “gay icon” to many right-wing French homosexuals. They like her relative liberalism on social issues and adore her virulent opposition to Islam, which brands homosexuality as a mortal sin.

The problem is that much of the FN grassroots remains attached to the “traditional values” – including homophobia – expounded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen.

While Ms Le Pen rides high in the polls, she is untouchable. The events of the past few days suggest, however, that anger within the FN is growing.

The “capture” of Mr Chenu – previously an adviser to a former President, Nicolas Sarkozy – was furiously denounced by traditionalist members of the Front National’s political bureau on Friday. The rebellion was led by the former deputy leader of the party, Bruno Gollnisch, and by Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen.

The switchboard of the party’s headquarters at Nanterre in the western suburbs of Paris was swamped for two days with angry calls from FN members.