Honoring Robert Badinter: A Champion of Justice Enters the Panthéon
A Historic Tribute to a Defender of Human Rights
In a powerful gesture of national gratitude, France will enshrine Robert Badinter in the Panthéon, one of the country’s highest honors. The induction ceremony is set for October 9, 2025—marking the anniversary of the death penalty’s abolition in France, a historic reform that Badinter led as Minister of Justice under President François Mitterrand in 1981.
Widely respected as both a lawyer and a tireless advocate for human rights, Badinter was instrumental not only in ending capital punishment but also in advancing LGBT+ rights. In 1982, alongside Member of Parliament Gisèle Halimi, he helped decriminalize homosexuality by championing the repeal of Article 331, Paragraph 2 of the French Penal Code—a law inherited from the Vichy regime.
Standing before Parliament, he boldly declared: “It is time we acknowledged everything France owes to its homosexual citizens.” That declaration helped usher in the law of August 4, 1982, an essential step in dismantling state-sponsored discrimination and fulfilling one of President Mitterrand’s major campaign promises: “Homosexuality must no longer be a crime.”
A Lifelong Advocate for LGBT+ Equality
Robert Badinter passed away on February 9, 2024, at the age of 95, leaving behind an indelible legacy shaped by his steadfast commitment to justice and equality. On the 40th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in France, he gave a powerful interview to têtu·, reflecting on his life’s work and warning of growing threats to LGBT+ rights around the world.
From his Paris apartment overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens and the Panthéon, he voiced his concern: “There should be a global movement that condemns the persecution of homosexual people around the world—it is unbearable!” A believer in universalism, a philosophy he shared with his wife, renowned philosopher Élisabeth Badinter, he remained deeply engaged in global human rights dialogue until the end of his life.
A Lasting Legacy of Principles
During a national tribute held on February 14, 2024, SOS homophobie acknowledged his unwavering efforts to promote dignity, recognition, and equality for LGBT+ people. President Emmanuel Macron paid homage to Badinter’s enduring vision and underscored the urgency of preserving it: “As oblivion and hatred seem poised to resurface, your ideals—our ideals—are under threat: the universal values that make all lives equal, and the rule of law that safeguards free lives.”
Robert Badinter now rests in vault VII of the Panthéon, beside pioneering figures of the French Revolution—Condorcet, Abbé Grégoire, and Gaspard Monge—who were reinterred in 1989 during the Revolution’s bicentennial under Mitterrand’s presidency. The Élysée Palace stated that Condorcet held particular resonance for both Robert and Élisabeth Badinter, who each dedicated scholarly works to his legacy. Discussions regarding the Panthéonization of Gisèle Halimi are reportedly still ongoing.
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