La Manif Pour Tous

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Originally created to oppose the French bill on same-sex marriage, La Manif Pour Tous (LMPT) has broaden its claims to the defense of the “traditional family” and the opposition to a fictional “gender theory”.

While claiming to be politically independant, LMPT is mostly supported by right to far-right politicians and religious organisations. They claim to reject homophobia whilst arguing for restrictions on marriage equality and rejecting adoption as well as assisted reproduction for same-sex couples. They also strongly opposed school programmes aiming at gender equality, claiming that those would “teach” homosexuality and masturbation to children. Many controversies arose from their demonstration slogans (ex: one picture of a monkey stating “marriage for all… why not for him?”)

La Manif pour Tous has launched a European organisation, Europe for Family (EFF), which didn’t prove succesful in the long run. However, La Manif pour Tous played a key role in the « Mum, Dad and Kids » 2017 Citizen’s initiative defending a traditional definition of marriage – excluding same-sex marriage.

Persons involved:

	Tugdual Derville: Former Spokesman Chair of Alliance Vita. He opposes same-sex marriages, abortion, euthanasia but also same-sex civil partnerships. Stated during the debates on same-sex marriage that person with mental disabilities too were concerned with the question of them wanting a child (1).
	Ludivine de la Rochère: President. Was in charge of the communication for the Bishops’ Conference of France and of the Jérôme Lejeune foundation. As founder of LMPT she strongly opposed same-sex marriage and also expressed her opposition to civil partnerships for same-sex couples and to an imaginary “gender theory” that would aim at “erasing all biological differences between men and women” (2).

Links with other organisations: Many links with anti-choice organisations (Alliance Vita, Fondation Jérome Lejeune) and with far-right organisations.

Key statement: “La Manif pour tous defends mariage and filiation in line with the gendered reality of mankind, which consequence is at the same time sexual difference and complementarity that are inescapable to conceive a child and to assume the mother-father and the motherhood-fatherhood differences” (3)

Legal existence: Non-profit social/campaign organisation – SIREN: 791 200 934, SIRET: 791 200 934 00028. APE: 9499Z

Financing: Public donations. Revenue: Not published. (4)

EU Accreditation: No.

Location: Paris.

Contact: 115 rue de l’Abbé Groult, 75015 Paris – [email protected]