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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2009
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7

French Minister Slammed Over Sex Tourism

Mitterand defended Polanski, admitted 'paying for boys' in book

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(Newser) – French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand's own past has come back to haunt him in the wake of his calls for Roman Polanski's release. Opposition lawmakers have brought attention to passages in his autobiography where he defends sex tourism and admits paying for young—and, he implies, underage—boys. "I got into the habit of paying for boys," he wrote. "All these rituals of the market for youths, the slave market excited me enormously."

"As a minister of Culture, he has drawn attention to himself by defending a filmmaker accused of raping a child and has written a book where he said he took advantage of sexual tourism," a spokesman for the opposition Socialist Party said. "To say the least, I find it shocking." Mitterand, now under heavy pressure to resign, says he is "flabbergasted" by the attacks, the Independent reports.

France's Minister of Culture, Frederic Mitterrand attends a government session at the National Assembly in Paris last month.
France's Minister of Culture, Frederic Mitterrand attends a government session at the National Assembly in Paris last month.   (AP Photo/Francois Mori, File)
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand gives the signal at the start of the traditional Techno Parade in Paris last month.
French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand gives the signal at the start of the traditional Techno Parade in Paris last month.   (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)
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The abundance of very attractive and immediately available young boys put me in a state of desire. - Frederic Mitterand in his autobiography
La Mauvaise Vie

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7 comments
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IN RESPONSE:
prowlerzee
Oct 8, 09 6:16 AM CDT
Men. That says it all. I know, not all men, but the end users of sex slaves are men. There are a few braindead women like Whoppi "not rape-rape" Goldberg, but in general men are going to have to own up and call out their own. Until then, Hillary can only free so many women journalists around the world who are tracking the sex trafficking before no one else dares continue to pursue the story. If the story ever gets out, it will be the end users who have to be held accountable. Mitterand is hardly the only client for sex slaves.
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prowlerzee
Oct 8, 09 6:20 AM CDT
"Flabbergasted" says it all. Men are so used to the privilege of buying humans for sexual gratification that it's shocking when people start to consider the plight of the humans desperate enough to offer themselves, or unfortunate enough to be enslaved. Reply
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IN RESPONSE:
cochiserocks
Oct 8, 09 6:26 AM CDT
Please don't confuse the issue - He is not being 'male' - He's being 'French'!
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-3
IN RESPONSE:
Doctor_Zaius
Oct 8, 09 6:57 AM CDT
As a man this sickens me.
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+1
Spudsy
Oct 8, 09 11:56 AM CDT
This is beyond disturbing. I like to think that either party in the US would chase this guy out. His defense of Polanski is despicable. On futher thought, I think you can be charged in the US for illegal sex tourism you do in other countries. Maybe other countries need that law. Reply
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