The repression of “unnatural” sexualities by the criminal justice system in France. An analysis of sentencing for “homosexuality” (1945-1982)

The response of the penal system to “homosexuality” in France has been little studied in the period between 1942 and 1982. In this period, the French Criminal Code forbade certain sexual encounters when they involved individuals “of the same sex”. Based on statistics provided by the Compte général de la justice (General Statistical Bureau of Justice: CGJ), this article provides a quantitative analysis of sentences pronounced by the criminal justice system on charges of “homosexuality” and a sociological profiling of people over 18 who were convicted. Approximately 10,000 convictions for “homosexuality” were pronounced in France against adult suspects. The number of convictions gradually increased between 1945 and 1960 (reaching 442 in 1961) and then slowly decreased from 1968 onwards. Persons who were convicted of the offence of “homosexuality” were mainly single men under 40 years of age, without children, of French nationality and belonging to the urban working classes. Half of them were sentenced to prison sentences of three months to one year. However, men and women of all ages and from all social classes were prosecuted in every French department, including overseas. Quantitatively, therefore, “homosexuality” has been subject to moderate criminal repression, compared, for example, with the 133,000 convictions for “public indecency” over the same period. Nevertheless, several thousand people were sentenced and this criminalization has largely fuelled the stigma associated with these sexualities.