{{Short description|French politician}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Christian Vanneste | image = Vanneste (cropped).jpg | office = Member of the National Assembly<br>for Nord's 10th constituency | term_start = 2002 | term_end = 2012 | predecessor = Jean-Pierre Balduyck | successor = Gérald Darmanin | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1947|07|14|df=yes}} | birth_place = Tourcoing, France | party = UMP }}
'''Christian Vanneste''' (born 14 July 1947) is a French politician. He served two terms as a deputy in the French Parliament (2002-2012), representing the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
== Career == A member of the French Parliament, he was elected in the 10th constituency of Nord. He sat with the parliamentary group of the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).
In 2005/2006, he reported on the controversial DADVSI copyright bill.
He was beaten in the first round of the June 2012 legislative elections.
== Controversy == In January 2006, Vanneste became the first French citizen to be fined €3,000 (in the first instance, but later relaxed) for his homophobic remarks. During a debate in the National Assembly of France, and afterwards in the media, he declared homosexual behavior a threat to the survival of humanity, and "morally inferior" to heterosexuality.<ref>Têtu, July–August 2007 issue, page 4</ref> The judgement, after a refused appeal, was eventually cancelled by the Cour de cassation on 12 November 2008.<ref>{{Interlanguage link multi|Chambre criminelle de la Cour de cassation française|fr}}. [http://legifrance.gouv.fr/affichJuriJudi.do?oldAction=rechJuriJudi&idTexte=JURITEXT000019772048 12 novembre 2008, pourvoi n° 07-83398]</ref>
In 2012, Vanneste again encountered controversy after referring to the deportation from France of homosexuals in the Holocaust as a "famous legend", though he acknowledges that they were persecuted in other parts of the Reich.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/02/16/French_MP_Under_Fire_For_Antigay_Comments/ |title=French MP Under Fire for Antigay Comments | News | the Advocate |accessdate=2012-02-17 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120220013006/http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2012/02/16/French_MP_Under_Fire_For_Antigay_Comments/ |archivedate=2012-02-20 }}</ref> Vanneste may or may not face Holocaust denial charges for the comment. He nevertheless received the support of Serge Klarsfeld the famous French "nazi-hunter".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndf.fr/nos-breves/15-02-2012/exclusif-serge-klarsfeld-defend-christian-vanneste-de-france-il-ny-a-pas-eu-de-deportation-dhomosexuels|title = EXCLUSIF ! Klarsfeld défend Vanneste : " en France, il n'y a pas eu de déportation d'homosexuels "|date = 15 February 2012}}</ref> Dominique de Villepin, the former French Prime Minister also admitted that "on historical grounds", his comments were true.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndf.fr/poing-de-vue/06-03-2012/eric-zemmour-et-dominique-de-villepin-au-secours-de-christian-vanneste-et-de-la-verite-historique#.T7PSmL9k4kd|title = Éric Zemmour et Dominique de Villepin au secours de Christian Vanneste (Et de la vérité historique)|date = 6 March 2012}}</ref>
He belongs to the Club de l'horloge (today Carrefour de l'horloge).<ref>See Philippe Lamy's thesis: http://www.theses.fr/2016PA080034/document.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *[http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/12/tribun/fiches_id/2875.asp Webpage at the Assemblée Nationale website] (in French) *[http://www.christianvanneste.fr/ Official blog] (in French)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanneste, Christian}} Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Carrefour de l'horloge people Category:Politicians from Hauts-de-France Category:People from Tourcoing Category:Rally for the Republic politicians Category:National Centre of Independents and Peasants politicians Category:Union for a Popular Movement politicians Category:The Popular Right Category:Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Category:Deputies of the 13th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic
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