In Haute-Savoie, a mayor refuses to register the first name of a transgender woman on her funeral plaque

In Thonon-les-Bains, Manon cannot rest in peace: the mayor of the city refuses that the name of this young trans woman, who committed suicide, appear on the funeral plaque . Her family has begun a standoff, in the name of the dignity of their daughter.

Her name was Manon*. In June 2020, the 28-year-old young woman decided to end her life. Devastated by this news, her parents must, in addition, deal with an unexpected problem: the mayor (various right) of Thonon-les-Bains, Christophe Arminjon, is opposed to their daughter's first name, which had begun her transition as a woman several years earlier, be registered on the funeral plaque, reveals Mediapart.

In a letter sent in July 2020 to Manon's parents, who had contacted him following the manifestation of his refusal, the mayor of the town reminds them of an article of the General Code of Local Authorities which states that "no registration cannot be placed on tombstones or funerary monuments without first having been submitted to the approval of the mayor”. As such, the latter is authorized to prohibit an inscription when it "manifestly undermines public order" in the cemetery or "the dignity of the deceased". The mayor adds that the name change has not been formalized. He therefore only accepts that "Manon" be attached to the "dead name" (term used to designate the first name given at birth in the case of a trans person) on the funeral plaque, a solution far from satisfying Manon's parents.

“My clients have completely accepted that the old first name be entered on the register of the town hall and on the cinerary urn because they know that the change of marital status had not yet been formalized”, explains to Mediapart Master Magaly Lhotel, the family lawyer. "But in the columbarium, they wanted to affix a plaque with the name of Manon, which had been their daughter's first name for almost four years," adds the lawyer. "Today, they have the impression of betraying their child by coming to meditate in front of a plaque that does not bear his first name."

“But what parents would we be to accept that?”

Manon’s mother did not fail to answer the chosen one. In his letter, the emotion is palpable. “But what parents would we be to accept that? Does our child deserve this? Did she commit a crime? Is she responsible for this misfortune of nature? It sounds like a punishment. There are trans all over the world! In our neighboring countries, it is one inhabitant in 500. In France, we do not count. Neither seen nor known”, she laments. “Many commit suicide or are psychiatrized. None of them recommend those lives. They suffer them and do what they can with them,” she adds.

Manon's mother then carefully sweeps through the mayor's arguments, one by one. For the lack of formalization of the change of first name in the civil status, she replies: “My daughter died before requesting a change in the civil status. Yes. Because the journey is long, strewn with pitfalls, trying, it requires courage and perseverance and she died before the journey was completed. But what would you have given her sooner that you are not giving her when she is dead! ” Manon's mother also retorts, with regard to the "disturbance of public order": "On the contrary, an inscription which would mention the birth name of Manon, as you propose, would reveal her transidentity, thus exposing the plate funeral to damage.”

On the same subject ⋙ Transphobia: “Few transgender people really report attacks against them”

How to Make a File Downloadable from Your Website (using this free #tool + video demo) http://t.co/sreRwqG5jk

— Orbisius Wed May 29 20:37:34 +0000 2013

⋙ Representation of LGBTQI+ in cinema: progress, except for transgender and non-binary people

However, the prefecture agrees with Manon's family

Faced with the mayor's intransigence, Manon's family has therefore decided to challenge the Haute-Savoie prefecture, which is on their side . At the beginning of December last, the citizenship service of the prefecture informed the family lawyer that it had sent a letter to the mayor of the town asking him to accede to their request. Contacted by Mediapart, the prefecture assures that the mayor never answered them. The director of the mayor's office, Emmanuel Heinis, has since reacted, insisting that "under the law and taking into account the cemetery regulations, accepted by the takers at the concession, the Mayor does not consider himself capable of to go beyond". "Only justice can require us to act", he adds.

Manon's family does not intend to stop there. She announced that she had already contacted the Defender of Rights, while the family lawyer assured that she would try all possible remedies so that Manon's parents obtain a case for their daughter.

*Name has been changed.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

🚨 WAIT! You liked this article, and you want to support us?

💡Connect for free to your NEON space. It allows you to be alerted of our next articles on the same subject (you can click on "follow this subject" at the top of this page), subscribe to our newsletters (a weekly best-of and our NL sexo) and save your articles for later. In accordance with the GDPR, we don't sell your data, and we won't spam you, we promise. It may be a detail for you, but for us it means a lot (and it keeps us free, by the way).

⋙ I LOG IN