Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French
Christian Democratic Party
__NOTOC__
Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...
. She served as a member of the
French National Assembly
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
representing
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Minister of Housing and Urban Development
The Minister of Housing is a minister in the government of New Zealand with responsibility for the government's house-building programme. The position was established in 1938 as Minister in charge of Housing, and has most commonly been known a ...]
by
President
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
*President (education), a leader of a college or university
*President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
. She was a candidate in the
2002 French presidential election
Presidential elections were held in France on 21 April 2002, with a runoff election between the top two candidates, incumbent Jacques Chirac of the Rally for the Republic and Jean-Marie Le Pen of the National Front, on 5 May. This presidential ...
, in which she scored 1.19% on the first round of balloting.
Boutin was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Parti Chrétien-démocrate), a
socially conservative
Social conservatism is a political philosophy and variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional power structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institution ...
Christian-democratic
Christian democracy (sometimes named Centrist democracy) is a political ideology that emerged in 19th-century Europe under the influence of Catholic social teaching and neo-Calvinism.
It was conceived as a combination of modern democratic ...
party, which is associated with the greater
UMP union party. She is best known for her very vocal opposition to
civil union
A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
s in 1998 and
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
later on.
In a judgement dated 18 December 2015 the correctional court of Paris condemned Boutin to a fine of €5000 and €2000 for legal damages for having said that homosexuality was an abomination. The verdict is being appealed.
She announced on 21 October 2017 that she was leaving politics, resigning as
departmental councillor for
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Levroux
Levroux () is a commune in the Indre department in central France, to the north of Châteauroux. On 1 January 2016, the former commune of Saint-Martin-de-Lamps was merged into Levroux. On 1 January 2019, the former commune Saint-Pierre-de-Lamps ...]
, Indre. She married her cousin Louis Boutin in 1967 with whom she had three children (the contradiction between her strong advocacy of Catholic dogmas and marrying one's first cousin remaining strictly forbidden by canon law is often pointed out). She entered politics in 1977 as a city council member of the village of
Auffargis. In 1980 she was elected its
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
. Boutin was elected to the National Assembly in 1986.
In 1993, Boutin founded the
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
NGO ''Alliance pour les droits de la vie'' (ADV) (English: ''Alliance for Human Life''), considered the largest anti-abortion organization in France. The same year, she became a consultant for the
Pontifical Council for the Family
The Pontifical Council for the Family was a pontifical council of the Curia of the Roman Catholic Church from 1981 to 2016. It was established by Pope John Paul II on 9 May 1981 with his motu proprio ''Familia a Deo Instituta'', replacing the Com ...
headed by
Cardinal Lopez-Trujillo.
In 1998, Boutin became somewhat famous because of a five-hour speech in opposition to the
PACS domestic partnership
A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee r ...
plan, arguing that its adoption by the government would encourage homosexuality. She held a Bible during the speech, an image which would later become associated with her.
In 2002, Boutin who had been a member of the
UDF party, joined the UMP when it was founded. In a UMP rally that same year, where Boutin spoke,
ACT UP
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) is an international, grassroots political group working to end the AIDS pandemic. The group works to improve the lives of people with AIDS through direct action, medical research, treatment and advocacy, ...
Paris protested with a banner calling Boutin
homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...
.
In 2006, Boutin supported the "global license" flat-fee authorization for sharing of copyrighted files over the Internet in a heated parliamentary debate on the
DADVSI
Loi DADVSI (generally pronounced as ''dadsi'') is the abbreviation of the French ''Loi relative au droit d’auteur et aux droits voisins dans la société de l’information'' (in English: "law on authors' rights and related rights in the infor ...
law. She also has been an advocate for a
guaranteed minimum income
Guaranteed minimum income (GMI), also called minimum income (or mincome for short), is a social-welfare system that guarantees all citizens or families an income sufficient to live on, provided that certain eligibility conditions are met, typical ...
, as well as expanded
housing rights (''Droit au logement''). She has considered the situation of
prisons in France
Asia and Oceania
Australia
Many prisons in Australia were built by convict labour in the 19th century. During the 1990s, various state governments in Australia engaged private sector correctional corporations to build and operate prisons whi ...
to be a scandal and has argued for a drastic reduction of inmates as well as improving their life-conditions.
In December 2006, Boutin announced that she would not be a candidate for the
2007 French Presidential election
Presidential elections in France, Presidential elections were held in France on 21 and 22 April 2007 to elect the successor to Jacques Chirac as President of the French Republic, president of France (and ''ex officio'' Co-Prince of Andorra) for ...
and pledged her support for the Conservative candidate
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
.
On 18 May 2007, after Sarkozy's victory in the presidential election, Boutin was named Minister of Housing and the City in the government of Prime Minister
François Fillon
François Charles Armand Fillon (; born 4 March 1954) is a retired French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 2007 to 2012 under President Nicolas Sarkozy. He was the nominee of the Republicans (previously known as the Union ...
. She has taken as advisors the
anti-abortion
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
activist Christine de Chefdebien, controversial for a 1992 anti-abortion occupation of a hospital, and the priest
Jean-Marie Petitclerc.
Boutin has a liberal view on condom use in Africa to prevent AIDS, saying that contraceptives were necessary, appearing to contradict an earlier view by
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...
. She has however been critical of contraception outside of the AIDS context in Africa. In October 2012, Christine Boutin stated that she remained strongly opposed to same-sex marriage, claiming that it would lead to polygamy. Around the same time, it was also revealed that she received €800,000 from the
UMP before deciding not to run for the forthcoming
presidential election
A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President.
Elections by country
Albania
The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public.
Chile
The pre ...
against its candidate,
Nicolas Sarkozy
Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012.
Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...
. On a tweet of 14 May 2013 she derided
Angelina Jolie
Angelina Jolie (; born Angelina Jolie Voight; June 4, 1975) is an American actress, filmmaker, humanitarian and former Special Envoy to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. The recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award ...
's cancer prevention treatment as a sex reassignment procedure; her tweet was widely criticized, but she has not apologized.
In 2014, Christine Boutin launched the "Force Vie" list for the
2014 European elections
Fourteen or 14 may refer to:
* 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15
* one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014
Music
* 14th (band), a British electronic music duo
* ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013
*''14'', an unrel ...
, and failed to secure the 3% of votes required for reimbursement of campaign expenses in any constituency.
In the second round of the
2017 French presidential election
The 2017 French presidential election was held on 23 April and 7 May 2017. As no candidate won a majority in the first round, a runoff was held between the top two candidates, Emmanuel Macron of En Marche! (EM) and Marine Le Pen of the Nationa ...
, she supported
Marine Le Pen.
In 2022, Boutin announced that she was supporting
Éric Zemmour
Éric Justin Léon Zemmour (; born 31 August 1958) is a French far-right politician, essayist, writer and former political journalist and pundit. He was an editor and panelist on ''Face à l'Info'', a daily show broadcast on CNews, from 2019 to ...
and had joined
Reconquête
Reconquête (; en, Reconquest), styled as Reconquête! (R!), is a nationalist political party in France founded in late 2021 by Éric Zemmour, who has since served as its leader. He was a far-right candidate in the 2022 presidential election, ...
.
9/11
In a November 2006 interview, published in 2007, Boutin stated that
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
might have been behind the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...
. When asked if she believed that the Bush administration was behind the 9/11 attacks, Boutin replied:
I think that it's possible... I think it is possible. I think it more especially as I know that the sites that speak of this problem are the sites that have the greatest numbers of visits.... And so, I tell myself, I who am extremely sensitive ... to the new techniques of information and communication, that this expression of the mass of the people cannot be without any truth. I'm not telling you that I adhere to that position, but let's say that, nevertheless, I'm questioning myself a bit on this question.
Political functions
Governmental function
Minister of Housing and Urban : 2007–2009.
Electoral mandates
''National Assembly of France''
Member of the
National Assembly of France
The National Assembly (french: link=no, italics=set, Assemblée nationale; ) is the lower house of the bicameral French Parliament under the Fifth Republic, the upper house being the Senate (). The National Assembly's legislators are known a ...
for
Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.[Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.][Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.][Yvelines
Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.][Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...]
of
Auffargis : 1980–1983.
Municipal councillor of
Auffargis : 1977–1983
Deputy-mayor of
Rambouillet : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.
Municipal councillor of
Rambouillet : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.
See also
*
9/11 conspiracy theories
9/11 conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories attribute the preparation and execution of the September 11 attacks against the United States to parties other than, or in addition to, al-Qaeda. These include the theory that high-level government ...
*
Pro-life movement
Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boutin, Christine
1944 births
Living people
People from Indre
French Roman Catholics
Centre of Social Democrats politicians
Union for French Democracy politicians
Christian Democratic Party (France) politicians
Government ministers of France
Mayors of places in Île-de-France
People from Yvelines
Politicians from Centre-Val de Loire
Female critics of feminism
French anti-abortion activists
Women mayors of places in France
9/11 conspiracy theorists
Women government ministers of France
20th-century French women politicians
21st-century French women politicians
French politicians convicted of crimes
French female criminals
Candidates in the 2002 French presidential election
Women members of the National Assembly (France)
Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
French conspiracy theorists
Reconquête politicians