PARIS — A far-right anti-gay marriage activist on Tuesday committed suicide at the altar of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, just three days after French President Francois Hollande signed into law a measure authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples.
Dominique Venner, 78, a historian known for his hard-right political essays and a fierce opponent of same-sex marriage shot himself in the mouth, sending tourists fleeing in panic, reported Reuters.
Venner made no declaration as he shot himself around mid-afternoon, a police source said. He carried a letter on his person, but its contents were not released to the media.
Earlier on Tuesday, Venner had written a damning critique of the same-sex marriage bill on his blog, and appealed to readers to join a protest of the law planned for Sunday. The rambling essay was a tirade against gay marriage, but also a warned that the “population of France and Europe” was going to be “replaced” and brought under “Islamist control” and “sharia law.”
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“New spectacular and symbolic actions are needed to wake up the sleep walkers and shake the anaesthetised consciousness,” he wrote. “We are entering a time when acts must follow words.”
“It’s unfortunate, it’s dramatic, it’s shocking,” the rector of Notre-Dame, Monsignor Patrick Jacquin, told the Associated Press.
