The artistic director of the infamous Paris Olympics opening ceremony has admitted that the LGBT-themed performance was “political” and described Saint Joan of Arc as one of the “greatest transvestites” in French history.
talk Le Monde In a newspaper this week, Thomas Joly admitted to political bias during the supposedly politically neutral opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which sparked international outrage with a drag-queen-themed performance that appeared to be intended to mock Christianity and was a re-enactment of Jesus Christ's Last Supper.
“Of course we were not proselytizing, but it was political,” the artistic director acknowledged in a statement. Reported by Le Figaro.
Jolie defended her decision to push the LGBTQ+ agenda by arguing that French history and culture are filled with examples of “gender fluidity”, in particular citing Saint Joan of Arc, a 15th-century French Catholic.
“My mission was to tell the story of who we are. All the paintings featured different bodies, diversity, women and men in makeup and costumes. Theatre was everywhere, and so was the gender issue. The King of France powdered himself and wore high heels. Wasn't Joan of Arc, one of the greatest transvestites in our history, criticized for wearing men's clothes?”
Joan of Arc, who led the effort to break the English siege of Orléans in 1429 and was later burned at the stake for heresy charges including cross-dressing, there is no evidence that this deeply religious woman considered herself part of the so-called LGBTQ+ community.
In fact, the patron saint of France often referred to herself as “La Pucelle” (the Maiden) to emphasize the importance of her status as a virgin woman. Contemporary accounts also suggest that Joan's decision to wear men's clothing in war was a practical one, rather than an expression of “gender fluidity.”
According to According to the Joan of Arc Archive, wearing men's clothing gave her greater protection from rape and allowed her to maintain her chastity during wartime and imprisonment, because the trousers she wore could be fastened together with her tunic, making them less likely to fall off.
She also reportedly said that if she was incarcerated in a place where she felt safe and not at risk of being sexually assaulted by her inmates, she would wear women's clothing again.
It has also been argued that her decision to wear men's clothing was initially prompted by suggestions from male peers, rather than an expression of a desire to reverse her gender.
Nevertheless, contemporary proponents of transgenderism have attempted to appropriate the story of Saint Joan to promote a narrative of gender fluidity in premodern times.
For example, in 2022, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London restaged Joan of Arc as a “non-binary” heroine who uses “they/them” pronouns and wears a bandage on her chest.
The theater acknowledged that the play is not historically accurate and that there are many instances in which she has been “portrayed as a woman,” but said the production would offer “the possibility of an alternative perspective.”
