Next March, Sabrina Decanton heads the list of environmentalists in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis) during the municipal elections. In a press release published this Tuesday evening, he announced that he had finally decided to withdraw his candidacy. The “carefully considered” decision, he wrote, resulted from “unacceptable behavior and comments within local environmental groups in Saint-Ouen”.
“For several months, I have been the target of homophobia. My sexual orientation is an obstacle to my candidacy and possible victory, some believe that it is inconsistent with the support of working-class neighborhoods – a position that I consider stigmatizing and discriminatory,” the city council member complained.
Wanting to demonstrate transparency, elected officials also claimed to have been “pressured into signing illegal and unethical documents, intended to entrust city decisions to a limited and secretive group.” “I refuse,” he said, without providing further details about the nature of the document.
“Unacceptable, shameful and shocking”
“Total support for Sabrina Decanton, who experienced unacceptable political practices in Saint-Ouen that offended me,” protested Marine Tondelier, national secretary of environmental activists, regarding Homophobia will never have a place in our movement. »
And the Green Party leader added: “Diversity is our strength, and to say otherwise goes against our values. I just spoke to him again to express my full support, and I know how to speak on behalf of the entire movement in doing just that.”
The outgoing mayor of Saint-Ouen, socialist Karim Bouamrane also showed his support for Sabrina Decanton. “Considering sexual orientation is a criterion for being a candidate is unacceptable, shameful and shocking,” the council member criticized.
Regardless of the context, Sabrina Decanton intends to honor her mandate as city councilor until the next election. He was willing to help citizens “express their concerns”, and said he had always believed “that other ways of doing politics are possible”. But not in any way: “I refuse to compromise my values and integrity.”
