The French Parliament passes a bill prohibiting discrimination on the basis of accent

The French parliament approved by a large majority on Thursday a government-backed bill banning discrimination on the basis of accent.

The text approved by the National Assembly in a first reading of 98 votes to three, aims to include the accent between the causes of discrimination that are punishable by law, and its punishment is up to three years imprisonment and a fine of 45,000 euros.

The law proposed by Representative Christophe Ose, from the "Working Together" group, which is allied with the majority, sparked a heated debate that was interspersed with influential testimonies.

The MP for French Polynesia, Maina Saj, from the "Ager Ensemble" group, denounced "a form of racism", speaking of the difficulties that people who speak in an accent of the French provinces abroad may face.

In addition, Representative Patricia Miralis from the ruling party bloc "Republic Forward", the daughter of French settlers who returned from North Africa, recalled painful memories when she was subjected to "sarcastic comments" on her accent, cheering for a few moments during her speech that tone.

Other deputies also condemned the restriction of journalists who spoke with a strong accent to covering "rugby news or the weather forecast."

On the other hand, Jean LaSalle announced from the opposition that he would not vote in favor of the law, explaining in his strong accent from southwestern France, "I do not ask for charity, I do not ask for protection because I am as I am."

For his part, Emmanuel Menard, a deputy from the far right, considered it "inappropriate" to include the accent equally with disability between the causes of discrimination.

However, Justice Minister Eric Dupont-Moretti declared that he was "very satisfied" with the text.

Ozier said: At a time when "visible minorities" receive the legitimate attention of public authorities, "audible minorities" are the biggest absentee from the social contract based on equality.

The law aims, according to the presentation of the motives behind it, to promote "the verbal diversity of the French language" and "the prohibition of discrimination based on accent that we observe on the ground in jobs that particularly require general expression."

Ozay explained that the aim is to tackle discrimination in work in particular, without suppressing the "scarcity" of local accents.

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