French LGBTQ rights leader hospitalised after ‘despicable homophobic attack’ in Paris

The head of a French LGBTQ rights association was hospitalised after a nighttime attack in Paris, activists and prosecutors said on Sunday.

Pierre Picavet, a police officer and LGBTQ rights campaigner, was injured in an assault in the French capital overnight from Saturday to Sunday.

Picavet is president of FLAG!, a Paris-based association that brings together employees of France's interior and justice ministries and works to combat discrimination against LGBTQ people.

As he left a bar in the historic Marais district in central Paris, Picavet was struck with a bottle and sustained multiple injuries, including internal bleeding and a head wound, according to the prosecutor's office.

The association STOP Homophobie denounced what it described as a "homophobic attack" and shared photographs of Picavet's injuries.

"STOP Homophobie condemns this attack in the strongest possible terms and stresses that anti-LGBT+ violence remains a reality," the group said.

Prosecutors said, citing Picavet, that the attacker repeatedly directed a homophobic slur at him.

"He immediately identified himself as a police officer and showed his police ID, but this did not deter the suspect from attacking him," prosecutors added.

The suspected attacker was taken into custody. Prosecutors said he had no previous criminal record and was intoxicated at the time of the assault.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire condemned what he called "this despicable homophobic attack" in a message in French posted on X.

Paris Mayor Emmanuel Grégoire on August 30, 2026, condemned what he called a "despicable homophobic attack" against Pierre Picavet, a police officer and LGBTQ rights campaigner. © Screengrab, X @egregoire

"We will never surrender our streets to hatred," Grégoire said. "Paris will remain a refuge, a bulwark and a city of freedom for everyone."

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)