Pierre Picavet in hospital after alleged homophobic attack

Pierre Picavet, the head of a French LGBTQ rights association, was hospitalised after an alleged homophobic attack in Paris overnight from Saturday to Sunday, activists and prosecutors said.

Picavet is a police officer and president of FLAG!, a Paris-based association of employees from France's interior and justice ministries that works against discrimination toward LGBTQ people.

The Paris prosecutor's office said Picavet was leaving a bar in the Marais district when he was struck with a bottle. Prosecutors said he suffered multiple injuries, including internal bleeding and a head wound.

Prosecutors, citing Picavet, said the attacker repeatedly used a homophobic slur against him. They said Picavet identified himself as a police officer and showed his police ID, but that this did not deter the suspect.

The suspected attacker was taken into custody. Prosecutors said he had no previous criminal record and was intoxicated at the time of the assault.

STOP Homophobie denounced what it called a homophobic attack and shared photographs of Picavet's injuries. Paris mayor Emmanuel Gregoire also condemned what he called a homophobic attack, saying on X that Paris would remain a city of freedom for everyone.