Ex French PM Gabriel Attal criticised by right-wing media for discussing gay relationship in memoir
Attal includes a chapter titled "Gay", where he writes about his relationship with Stéphane Séjourné, who serves as a European commissioner
By Callum Wells
Gabriel Attal has come under fire from parts of the right-wing French media after writing about his relationship with Stéphane Séjourné in a new memoir.
Attal, France’s former prime minister who is widely seen as a possible future presidential contender, released En Homme Libre (As a Free Man) today (23 April).
But while the memoir addresses his split from president Emmanuel Macron and France’s political turmoil, much of the media reaction has focused on Attal discussing his private life as a gay man.
Attal includes a chapter titled “Gay”, where he writes about his relationship with Stéphane Séjourné
In the book, Attal includes a chapter titled “Gay”, where he writes about his relationship with Séjourné, who currently serves as a European commissioner. The pair entered a civil union in 2017, later separated in 2022, and reconciled in 2024.
During media appearances promoting the memoir, Attal described Séjourné as “the love of my life” and said the couple hope to have a child, but have faced difficulties adopting as a gay couple.
He also said he experiences homophobic abuse online “almost every day”.
The comments prompted criticism from some French broadcasters, who accused Attal of making his private life too central to his public image.
“We are slipping from transparency to exhibitionism. It’s a striptease” – political commentator Gérard Carreyrou on Europe 1
Speaking on Europe 1, conservative political commentator Gérard Carreyrou said: “We need a form of transparency. But here we are slipping from transparency to exhibitionism. It’s a striptease.”
Presenter Marc Menant added: “What bothers me is that suddenly [the private life] becomes the essential element about a man. It amounts to sullying the principle of politics a little bit.”
Attal has defended speaking openly about his relationship, arguing that public figures can lose control of the narrative when they stay silent.
“When you don’t talk about [your private life] yourself, others do it for you. I am neither trying to highlight my relationship nor hide who I am,” he told Le Point.