TEN people are going on trial today for “sexist cyber-harassment” against French First Lady Brigitte Macron over bizarre claims she is a man.
It comes after Mrs Macron, 72, and her husband President Emmanuel Macron filed a defamation lawsuit in the summer to prove she is a biological woman.
Brigitte Macron has been locked in a strange legal battle for years after nasty rumours swirled online claiming she is a manCredit: AFP
French President Emmanuel Macron with the first ladyCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
Eight men and two women, all aged between 41 and 60, will be tried in a Paris criminal court and face up to two years in prison.
They have been accused of making numerous “malicious” claims about the First Lady’s sexuality and gender.
Some even suggested her 24-year age difference with her husband was “paedophilia”, prosecutors said.
Among the defendants is conspiracy theorist Aurelien Poirson-Atlan, 41, a publicist known online as “Zoe Sagan”.
The defendants also include a woman already subject to a libel complaint by Mrs Macron in 2022.
Delphine J., 51, a self-proclaimed spiritual medium who goes by the pseudonym Amandine Roy, alleged Mrs Macron had once been a man called Jean-Michel Trogneux – the name of her brother.
Also facing trial are an elected official, gallery owner, teacher, and even a computer scientist.
Brigitte Macron’s legal battles
For years, vicious rumours claiming Brigitte was born a man have spread online by conspiracy theorists and right-wing personalities.
One of the biggest is US pundit .
Last March, Owens said she “would stake [her] entire professional reputation” on the claim that Brigitte was born male.
She even alleged Brigitte is in fact her brother, Jean-Michel Trogneux, and that her first husband never existed.
Hurt by the outlandish comments to her hundreds of thousands of viewers, both Brigitte and Emmanuel Macron took legal action.
But Owens hit back by saying she would demand a medical exam as part of any trial.
She announced: “We’re going to demand Brigitte sit down for an exam with an independent doctor.
“We’re coming for her medical records.”
Experts reveal eye-watering pieces of evidence Brigitte Macron will reveal to prove she’s a woman
By , Foreign News Reporter
DR Emma Hilton, a developmental biologist at the University of Manchester, told The Sun the First Lady could technically offer at least five types of evidence.
CHILDBIRTH
The strongest evidence, Dr Hilton said, would be showing she has carried a child.
“If you see a baby coming out of someone, you’re going to say, ‘yes, OK, that’s a woman’,” she commented.
And photos of Brigitte Macron pregnant with her three children could be decisive.
HORMONE LEVELS
Doctors could check sex hormone levels – testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone – which differ in men and women.
Dr Hilton noted: “It’s something that’s been used for sports categories before.
“We use them to check the general sexual health of men and women in adulthood.”
MAKE MALE GENE
Scientists can run a genetic test for the specific gene that triggers male development.
“It’s called the ‘make male’ gene. It’s the single trigger in humans to say you are going to be male,” Dr Hilton said.
And if it’s absent, it means the person is female.
CHROMOSOME SCREENING
A simple screen could show whether Macron carries a Y chromosome – a marker of male sex.
This usually means taking a blood sample and looking for the presence of a Y chromosome, which is typically linked with male sex.
MENSTRUAL HISTORY
Doctors could also review menstrual history, meaning whether someone has ever had periods, when they began, and how regular they are.
Her lawyers have insisted Owens has a right to say what she believes under free speech laws.
The rumours about Brigitte’s birth gender first took off in France after far-right magazine Faits et Documents printed them in 2021.
Mrs Macron and her husband then filed for defamation in July and to prove Brigitte is and always has been a woman.
They were later peddled to the public by bloggers Natacha Rey and Amandine Roy who pushed them in a YouTube interview that went viral.
The Macrons sued Rey and Roy for defamation in Paris and won with the two women being hit with huge fines.
But the pair were later acquitted by the Paris Court of Appeal over the incident on freedom of expression grounds.
Brigitte has appealed the decision to overturn the court’s verdict.
Amandine, a self-proclaimed 51-year-old whistleblower, has long claimed that Brigitte is a transgender woman who was born Jean-Michel.
They allege that she never gave birth to her three children due to her gender.
President Macron has furiously denied the allegations, branding them “false and fabricated.”
On International Women’s Day he said: “The worst thing is the false information and fabricated scenarios. People eventually believe them.”
Youtuber Candace Owens has consistently peddled nasty rumours about the President’s wifeCredit: Getty
Mrs Macron was given a male name on the official French tax portal by a team of cruel hackers, according to a top governmental officialCredit: Shutterstock Editorial 
