France: Brigitte Macron becomes target of transphobic fake news

A few days ago, Brigitte Macron was made the target of baseless rumours which claimed that the First Lady of the French republic was actually born biologically as a male. Furthermore, they claim that her name, before her alleged transition, was Jean-Micheal Trogneux.

Several photographs and videos were published to ‘prove’ that this glaringly obvious fake theory is actually true. In total more than 60,000 messages, using the hashtag #JeanMichelTrogneux were posted online.

Baseless rumours

Unfortunately, this is not the first time people have tried to spread this kind of misinformation about Brigitte. These rumours, which are being presented in a very transphobic manner, were first mentioned in an article that was published in Faits & Documents—a right wing journal. According to The Independent the journalist, Natacha Rey, who reportedly ‘investigated’ Brigitte even gave a four-hour-long interview about the matter.

Although the video was deleted, the crux of the story started circulating around the internet, nevertheless, and ended up ravaging Twitter.

All these claims have surfaced just ahead of the 2022 French Presidential Elections, but Brigitte Macron is not one to let the rumours slide by. Her entourage confirmed to BFMTV that she is going to file a complaint against the instigators. The same was mentioned by Jean Ennochi, Brigitte Macron’s lawyer, on 13 December.

The Macrons’ Christmas

Despite the rumours running rife, Brigitte Macron has not let it ruin her end-of-year festivities. In fact, she’s apparently got plans to have an intimate Christmas celebration with her husband and kids.

Emmanuel Macron, President of the Republic, spoke about their plans briefly during an interview with RTL, and said that the couple will be spending Christmas with Brigitte’s three children and her seven grandchildren.