Christine Boutin

Christine Boutin (, born 6 February 1944) is a French former politician leading the small French Christian Democratic Party. She served as a member of the French National Assembly representing Yvelines, from 1986 until 2007, when she was appointed Minister of Housing and Urban Development by President Nicolas Sarkozy. She was a candidate in the 2002 French presidential election, in which she scored 1.19% on the first round of balloting. Boutin was the leader of the Christian Democratic Party (Parti Chrétien-démocrate), a socially conservative Christian-democratic party, which is associated with the greater UMP union party. She is best known for her very vocal opposition to civil unions in 1998 and same-sex marriage later on. In a judgement dated 18 December 2015 the correctional court of Paris condemned Boutin to a fine of €5000 and €2000 for legal damages for having said that homosexuality was an abomination. The verdict is being appealed. She announced on 21 October 2017 that she was leaving politics, resigning as departmental councillor for Yvelines.