Bill on National Recognition and Reparation for Persons Convicted for Homosexuality between 1942 and 1982

This French legislative proposal seeks to formally acknowledge the responsibility of the French Republic for the criminal prosecution and conviction of individuals on the basis of their homosexuality during the period spanning 1945 to 1982, the year homosexuality was decriminalized in France. The bill addresses a historical injustice rooted in laws that penalized same-sex conduct, including provisions introduced during the Vichy regime and maintained in various forms for decades after World War II. The proposal aims to provide legal recognition that these convictions were unjust and contrary to human dignity, positioning the French state as bearing institutional responsibility for the harm inflicted. It seeks to establish mechanisms for reparation — financial or symbolic — for surviving victims and potentially their descendants, acknowledging that those convicted suffered discrimination, social exclusion, and lasting psychological harm. This bill is part of a broader European trend of posthumous pardons and official apologies to LGBTQ+ individuals persecuted under historical anti-homosexuality laws, following similar actions in Germany, the United Kingdom, and other nations. If adopted, France would formally join countries that have taken legislative steps to rehabilitate the memory and dignity of those affected.

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