Gay insult at hairdresser considered 'not homophobic' by French court

The slur was considered not to be homophobic 'because hair salons regularly employ gay people'

The court ordered the employer to pay €5,000 in damages but said there was no homophobic motive behind the decision to fire the hairdresser (Getty)

Widespread criticism has erupted after a tribunal court in Paris ruled it is not homophobic to call a male hairdresser a “faggot” because hairdressers “regularly employ gay people”.

A Parisian hairdresser accused his employer of unfair dismissal after being fired from a hair salon for failing to turn up for work while ill last year.

During his absence he received a text message, sent accidently to him by his employer, which included the homophobic French slur “PD”, which translates as “faggot” in English.

The message from his boss read: “I am not going to keep [the employee]. I don't have a good feeling about this guy. He's a dirty faggot," according to Liberation.

The court ordered the employer to pay €5,000 in damages, but said there was no homophobic motive behind the decision to fire the hairdresser.

The tribunal’s reasoning, tweeted by reporter Mathieu Brancourt, said: “If we put it in the context of the field of hairdressing, the council considers that the term 'faggot' used by a manager cannot be considered as a homophobic insult, because hair salons regularly employ gay people, notably in female hairdressers, and that poses no problem at all."

The ruling and explanation has sparked an outcry on social media and among France’s gay community.

Clemence Zamora-Cruz, spokeswoman of the group Inter-LGBT, said the ruling "may worsen the homophobic climate, which is already bad”, AFP reports.

Nicolas Noguier, who runs a shelter for victims of homophobia, said the ruling was “clearly homophobic”.

The French labour minister Myrian El Khomri described the decision as “deeply shocking”, while speaking to RTL.

It is understood the employee will appeal the decision, but the date of the appeal has not been set.