Paris rally honours Caroline Grandjean, the French headmistress driven to suicide by homophobic harassment
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Around a hundred people gathered outside the French Ministry of Education this week to honour the memory of Caroline Grandjean, a school headmistress who tragically took her own life after enduring years of homophobic abuse. The rally, organised by SOS Homophobie and Inter-LGBT, was a solemn call for justice and institutional accountability.
Grandjean, 42, died by suicide on 1 September - the first day of the new school year - by jumping from a cliff near her home in Anglards-de-Salers, Cantal. Hours earlier, she had contacted France’s national suicide prevention hotline. Her death followed a prolonged campaign of harassment that began in 2023, when she was working at a nursery school in the small village of Moussages.
Although Grandjean had never publicly disclosed her sexuality, it became known locally that she was married to a woman. This revelation reportedly triggered a wave of abuse, including graffiti on school walls with slurs such as “dirty dyke” and “dyke = paedophile.” She filed five police complaints, but the harassment persisted. Death threats later appeared, including messages like “Go die, you dirty dyke”.
Despite her efforts to raise awareness - including a public letter co-signed by parents and the village mayor - Grandjean felt unsupported by both local authorities and the education system. She was allegedly encouraged to transfer schools rather than being protected in her role. A comic book author, Christophe Tardieux (known as Remedium), who had documented her experience in a short graphic work earlier this year, said he was “in shock” at the news of her death.
Union leaders and LGBTQ+ advocates have condemned the institutional failures that allowed the abuse to continue unchecked. Thierry Pajot, a local union representative, said: “This harassment destroyed her. She wasn’t supported by the education directors or the town hall. It’s too much.”
The Ministry of National Education issued a statement expressing deep sorrow and pledged to investigate the circumstances surrounding her death. Meanwhile, calls are growing for an administrative inquiry and stronger protections for LGBTQ+ educators across France.
The rally in Paris served not only as a tribute to Grandjean’s life and work but also as a powerful reminder of the urgent need to combat homophobia in schools and rural communities. Attendees held signs reading “Justice for Caroline” and “Silence Kills,” demanding systemic change to ensure no educator faces such isolation and abuse again.
