French First Lady Faces Onslaught of Gender Misinformation, Daughter Testifies

Brigitte Macron’s daughter has testified in a Paris court that false online claims about her mother’s gender identity have severely impacted the French first lady’s daily life, forcing her to constantly worry about her appearance and posture.

Tiphaine Auzière, a 41-year-old lawyer, appeared as a witness in the trial of ten individuals accused of online harassment for creating or sharing social media posts falsely claiming that Brigitte Macron was born a man.

“The consequence is now that she systematically has to pay attention to what she wears, how she holds herself, no matter what she’s doing in her daily life, because she knows that her image can be distorted to serve these attacks,” Auzière told the court.

The defendants—eight men and two women between 41 and 60 years old—face up to two years in prison if convicted. They are accused of making malicious comments about the first lady’s gender and sexuality, with some even equating the age difference between her and President Emmanuel Macron to “pedophilia.”

Auzière described how the harassment has led to “a deterioration of her health” and “a deterioration of her quality of life” for her mother. “Not a day or week goes by when someone does not talk about this to her,” she said, adding that the impact extends to Brigitte Macron’s grandchildren, who hear comments like “Your grandmother is lying” or “Your grandmother is your grandfather.”

The first lady’s daughter emphasized that her mother never sought public office. “She’s not elected, she has not sought anything, and she is permanently subjected to these attacks,” Auzière testified. “I—as a daughter, a woman and a mother—would not wish her life on anyone.”

The Paris trial represents the latest chapter in the Macrons’ legal battle against the false narrative that Brigitte Macron is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux. The couple has also filed a defamation lawsuit in the United States against conservative podcaster Candace Owens for amplifying these claims.

According to the Macrons’ U.S. lawsuit, Jean-Michel Trogneux is actually Brigitte Macron’s 80-year-old brother who still lives in Amiens, the northern French town where they grew up in a family known for its chocolate business. Auzière confirmed to the court that she had seen her uncle a few months ago and “he was really well.”

During the trial, defendants offered various justifications for their actions. Jean-Luc M, a 65-year-old retired business owner who now serves as a deputy mayor, denied harassment despite referring to Brigitte Macron as “our first ladyboy” in social media posts. “I never intended to cause harm,” he claimed.

Another defendant, publicist and fiction writer Aurélien Poirson-Atlan, characterized his posts as “satire” and “humorous,” arguing that France is a nation with “satire in its DNA.” He suggested that the legal proceedings posed a danger to freedom of expression and claimed that Brigitte Macron could have ended the speculation by publishing photographs of herself pregnant.

Bertrand S, an art gallery owner, stated that he shared the false information because he felt it was becoming a “global issue with consequences for France” and believed that widespread posting would compel the Macrons to “give us an answer to our questions.”

The conspiracy theory gained traction partly because the Macrons’ relationship has long been a subject of public fascination. Brigitte Macron, who is 24 years older than her husband, first met Emmanuel when she was his French teacher at a Jesuit secondary school in Amiens, where she directed him in a school play.

The Macrons have addressed their relationship history in legal documents, stating that they “formed a deeper intellectual connection” through the school’s theater program while maintaining that “the teacher-student relationship between Mrs. Macron and President Macron remained within the bounds of the law.” Brigitte Macron, who has three children from her first marriage, divorced in 2006 and married Emmanuel Macron the following year.