The two French essayists Dora Moutot and Marguerite Stern, who are committed to denouncing transgender ideology, were targeted by attacks during a book signing at their publisher’s in Paris on Saturday, October 5th. At the event, 64 far-left activists were arrested by the police, amid a deafening media silence.
For months, the two authors have been hounded by transgender activists who have denounced the publication of their best-selling essay Transmania, in which the two women, coming from the Left and feminist movements, demonstrate the dangerous mechanisms of transgender ideology in society. Their public appearances are hounded to prevent them from holding conferences or presenting their book.
Recently, when they were invited to Lyon by ISSEP, the political science institute founded by Marion Maréchal, they were exposed to violent pressure to cancel their speech. The ISSEP premises were subjected to extensive material damage as a form of intimidation. The conference eventually went ahead but was held under heavy police protection.
A few days ago, Dora Moutot told X that she lives in constant fear of being attacked and is looking for new accommodation to ensure her peace and safety. Activists go so far as to threaten her and her friend and colleague Marguerite Stern with death on an almost daily basis.
On Saturday, October 5th, a signing session for the essay Transmania, organised by the publisher, Éditions Magnus, was held in Paris. So-called anti-fascist and transgender groups took to social media to prevent the event from taking place. Activists turned up armed with grenades and iron bars, and 64 people were eventually arrested by the police.
Apart from a few right-wing press outlets, the French media kept silent about the incident. The France Info website published an article talking about the arrests, but managed the feat of mentioning neither the origin of those arrested—Antifa and transgender activists—nor the reason for their mobilisation, namely to prevent the freedom of expression of authors Moutot and Stern.
In this climate of violence, a conference by the two women due to be held in Versailles in a few days has been cancelled. The organiser, the association Les Éveilleurs, preferred to cancel it with the Théâtre Montansier, which was supposed to host the event, for fear of violence and damage. No other venue in Versailles agreed to host the conference.
Following these events, Dora Moutot wrote a long post on X. For her, the attempt by transgender activists to silence them is a perfect illustration of what she and Stern denounce in their essay: a full-blown fascist dictatorship, exercised by the transgender lobby, with the use of physical force, violence, and intimidation to prevent by any means whatsoever the dissemination of a discourse that is not authorised by the doxa. But the effect has certainly been the opposite of what was intended: the publication of their essay has been an unprecedented editorial success, informing public opinion on taboo subjects such as the scandal of puberty blockers and the omnipresence of the transgender lobby in France, Europe, and the rest of the world in international bodies, education, and the world of culture.
“From now on, each of our appearances requires reinforced protection. It’s a fact of life that our physical integrity is under serious threat,” Dora Moutot explained to Le Figaro, lamenting the lack of reaction from feminist circles. She concluded: “The violence of the extreme left and anti-fascist queer circles must become a public debate.”
Stern and Moutot have written to new Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to ask for special police protection.
