Béziers mayor Robert Ménard inaugurated a Christmas nativity scene in the town hall courtyard on Saturday, November 29, sparking a protest by the Human Rights League. Demonstrators argue it breaches secularism and the 1905 law separating church and state. Ménard portrays the display as a unifying tradition without proselytism.
On Saturday morning, Robert Ménard, the independent right-wing mayor of Béziers, inaugurated a Christmas nativity scene in the town hall courtyard. This setup, the eleventh of its kind in the city, quickly drew backlash. At the call of the local Human Rights League (LDH) branch, residents gathered in the nearby street to protest, citing the secularism principle enshrined in the December 9, 1905, law.
The demonstrators, led by Jean-Paul Palmade, president of Béziers LDH, argue that placing a nativity scene in a public building like a town hall breaches the neutrality required of republican institutions. “We do not want nativity scenes installed in public buildings, whether town halls or other symbols of the Republic. They should be placed in religious venues,” Palmade told BFMTV.
Ménard defends the tradition based on its local appeal. “Every year, we provide a guestbook. It contains between 20,000 and 25,000 signatures! People love it,” he told Le Parisien. He adds: “The nativity scene is a moment that brings everyone together. Here, we are not proselytizing; we are simply recalling a message of love.”
Such displays have sparked controversy in Béziers before. In 2017, the Montpellier administrative court ordered the nativity scene removed from the courtyard of honor, ruling it highlighted the nativity scene, thereby violating Article 28 of the 1905 law and the neutrality principle. A similar ruling applied to Perpignan. More recently, in February, Beaucaire town hall in Gard was fined over 120,000 euros for refusing to remove one, a win celebrated by the local LDH, with member Francis Labbe hoping it “could once and for all prevent town halls from cheating with the 1905 law.”