PQ leader apologizes for joke about moustache
MONTREAL— The head of Quebec’s official opposition apologized Monday for making fun of a female politician’s conspicuous — and relatively famous — fuzzy upper lip.
Parti Québécois Leader Jean-François Lisée told reporters he wasn’t trying to ridicule his gender nonconforming colleague in a radio interview broadcast Sunday night.
Rather, Lisée said, he was comically affirming that Manon Massé wears her salt-and-pepper lip hair as a political statement.
Massé, elected in 2014 with the leftwing political party Québec solidaire, worked as a feminist and LGBTQ activist before entering politics.
She wears her facial hair proudly and has told interviewers on several occasions she refuses to adhere to society’s heteronormative standards about beauty or how women should dress and look.
Québec solidaire is arguably the most progressive and left-leaning party that holds seats in Quebec legislature. Instead of having leaders, the political formation has one female and one male “spokesperson.”
During the Radio-Canada interview, Lisée was asked about his recent decision to appoint Véronique Hivon, a well-liked politician in Que- bec, to be the PQ’s deputy leader.
Hivon’s appointment was not inspired by QS’s model, he stated.
“I am the leader, and not a spokesman,” he said, referring to how QS refers to the heads of their party. “Véronique is the deputy leader, not a spokesperson . . . Moreover, contrary to Manon, she doesn’t have a moustache.”
Massé has not yet commented publicly on Lisée’s lippy comment.