French Region Freaks Out Over Barely-Lesbian Ad

An advertisement by Chaumet, an upscale French jeweler, is the center of controversy in a Parisian suburb.

According to TheLocal.fr, residents of Pecq in the Yvelines region of Ile-de-France were shocked by a recent advertisement depicting two women about to kiss, placed in bus shelters and other public areas. The model for the piece is actress Marine Vacth about to kiss herself as a play on the Greek myth of Narcissus.

The gay rights group SOS Homophobia is outraged at the city’s decision to remove the ad.

“I understand their anger and I’m sorry,” Mayor Laurence Bernard said in Le Parisien. “I am appalled and sorry for the controversy that this raises. I wanted to make things more calm. I thought that by removing them, I made a step towards these residents and that I could get them to accept the evolution of society without rushing them.”

The National French Assembly voted 331-225 in favor of marriage equality in April 2013, and France became the ninth country in Europe to offer marriage equality.

Nonetheless, a report by SOS Homophobia shows a 78 percent increase in homophobic attacks in the country in 2013. These attacks range from verbal to physical to cyber bullying and harassment.

This increase in homophobic attacks translates to a physical attack every two days in France representing a 54 percent increase from 2012 as reported by TheLocal.fr.

Though the government does not have corresponding figures, SOS Homophobia links the rise in attacks and violence to the country’s recent decision to legalize same-sex marriages.