No, France's First Lady Brigitte Macron Isn't a Trans Woman
This rumor, which started before the 2022 French presidential election, has been given new life in the United States.
Published March 18, 2024
For several years, a rumor has circulated in France that the country's first lady, Brigitte Macron, was born a man.
The rumor began in April 2021, a year before the 2022 French presidential election in which incumbent President Emmanuel Macron would run for a second term. They first appeared in a French far-right publication named Faits & Documents (Facts & Documents), which purports to be a "confidential" newsletter (it requires a subscription and its sole distribution format is paper). Known for its
antisemitism and its conspiracy theories, its writer is a man named Xavier Poussard.
That month, the publication hired Natacha Rey as a contributing writer for a
story that claimed Brigitte Macron was born a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux. The same story alleged that before her transition, Brigitte Macron had her three children with a woman named Catherine Auzière. According to the writers, Macron's former husband, André-Louis Auzière, had never existed.
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No, France's First Lady Brigitte Macron Isn't a Trans Woman | Snopes.com
Other Baseless Allegations of Women Being Trans
Brigitte Macron is not the first high-profile woman to be targeted by rumors of being born a man. We've previously reported on similar claims regarding former U.S. first lady
Michelle Obama and Olympic swimmer
Katie Ledecky.
These rumors are often rooted in misogyny, transphobia and homophobia. In the case of women who are married to politicians, the allegations often start during electoral campaigns in attempts to discredit their spouses in the eyes of the voters. For example, the story about Obama being a trans woman first appeared in 2008, when her husband, Barack Obama, became the Democratic presidential candidate.