Politics

The presidential election has come and gone, and we are on to legislative elections here in France.  This is a big deal, because the president can get a whole lot more accomplished if he also has a majority in the legislative assembly.  That being said, campaigning is in full force, the first round of legislative elections is in a couple of weeks, and on nice weekend days at the market it's hard to make it through the entrance without 5 flyers being shoved in your face. A few days ago, at a particularly busy street corner, I decided to stop and have a chat with one of the guys handing out flyers for Nicolas Sarkozy's party, the UMP.  Until May, UMP controlled both the legislature and the presidency.  Now that the presidency has shifted to the socialist party, the UMP's new campaign strategy is to argue that in order for France to be balanced, there should be a split between the party of the president and the party controlling the assembly.  Predictably, when they controlled both the presidency and the assembly, they didn't think that one party holding all the power was such a bad thing.

Me: (smiling) "UMP, right?"
UMP Guy: (also smiling) "Yes!"
Me: "I have a message for you to bring back to your campaign."
(UMP Guy's smile fades a bit) 
"I am a lesbian, and this is my son."
(UMP Guy's smile disappears completely and he starts looking around uncomfortably)
"And your party thinks that I should have no legal right to be his parent."
UMP Guy: "No, that's not us, that was the far right --"
Me: "No way.  Your party was in power. Your party controlled government."
UMP Guy: "Well, it is not on our agenda."
Me: "Well, until my family is on your agenda, you will never, ever receive a UMP vote from me.  Have a nice day."

Nevermind that I have absolutely no right to vote here... but he doesn't need to know that.

- E