Trial to begin of ten people accused of the sexist cyber-bullying of French first lady Brigitte Macron
Rumours claiming Mrs Macron was born a man have been circling since 2017
Ten people are set to go on trial this week accused of the sexist cyber-bullying of France's first lady Brigitte Macron.
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The eight men and two women, aged between 41 to 60, are alleged to have spread ill-founded claims over Ms Macron's gender and sexuality.
They are also said to have made "malicious remarks" about Mrs Macron being 24 years older than her husband.
Two of the people on trial, Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy, were found guilty of slander last year for claiming that Mrs Macron had never existed, and that her brother Jean-Michel Trogneux had changed gender and started using her name.
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But they were later acquitted on the grounds that their statements did not constitute defamation, which is being appealed by Mrs Macron and her brother.
The defendants, who all deny the claims, also include a woman already the subject of a defamation complaint filed by Mrs Macron in 2022, Delphine J, 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy.
The claims against the first lady began in 2017 when her husband won his first term in office.
The Macrons are planning to offer "scientific" evidence and photos proving that the first lady was not born a man, according to their US lawyer.
Mrs Macron first met her husband when she was a French teacher at his Jesuit secondary school in Amiens, directing him in a school play.
The Macrons' lawsuit stated: "Through the school's theatre programme, president Macron and Mrs Macron formed a deeper intellectual connection."
It added: "At all times the teacher-student relationship between Mrs Macron and President Macron remained within the bounds of the law."
Ms Macron has not spoken publicly on the false gender claims since 2022, when she told French radio, RTL, the allegations were an "impossible" attack on her parents' family tree.
If convicted, they face up to two years in prison.