French scouts chief quits after backlash over sexuality

Marine Rosset has said she is stepping down after less than two months following online attacks over her sexuality. [File, AFP]

The chief of France's biggest scouts movement, which has its roots in Catholicism, has said she is stepping down after less than two months following online attacks over her sexuality.

Marine Rosset, who is in a same-sex relationship and is the mother of a child, made the announcement in an interview published Wednesday by the Catholic newspaper, La Croix.

"I have chosen to step down as president of the Scouts and Guides of France (SGDF)," said Rosset, who is an elected councillor with the Socialist Party (PS) and supports the right to abortion.

"The situation had become untenable and my goal is to protect the movement," Rosset told the newspaper.

She accused people outside the scouting movement, "political, PR, and even financial forces" of having attacked her.

They had created a false image of the movement "because a number of my positions were associated with those of the movement", she said.

Rosset was chosen in mid-June as the head of the movement at the age of just 39.

A Socialist councillor in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, she notably supports the right to abortion.

Her appointment got angry reactions from several far-right sites and prompted wary reactions within the Church.

Rosset said she had not expected "the violence of criticism" following her support for the right to abortion and her family situation.

"I'm angry, especially because my faith has sometimes been questioned because of my homosexuality. It's hurtful," she told La Croix.

In a statement, the SGDF said Rosset's decision to step down "allows us to preserve the non-partisan nature" of the organisation.

But it also "firmly denounces the violent, discriminatory, and dehumanising remarks that have been expressed in recent weeks" against her.

It said it was backing a legal complaint Rosset has filed over the attacks on her and had not ruled out taking legal action itself.

With more than 100,000 members, the SGDF is France's leading scouting association, with far greater members than the more conservative Scouts Unitaires de France and Scouts d'Europe.