French Caribbean influencer pursues an anti-LGBT career on YouTube
Eric Damaseau faces the possibility of prison time, but continues his abusive homphobic language.
Extreme-right West Indian influencer Eric Damaseau, who lives in Bordeaux, France, is multiplying his anti-LGBT polemics and outbursts on social networks despite complaints raining down on him.
These include a complaint by the French LGBTQ-rights advocacy group Stop Homophobie, which objects to Damaseau comparing homosexuality to a disease. In addition, Martinique’s LGBTQ rights association Kap Caraïbe has blasted him for politicizing people’s sexual orientation and gender identity. He has also outed Guadeloupe’s elected representatives and questioned whether their sexual preferences make them unqualified for public office.
In the United States, such hate speech — “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation” — generally counts as free speech that is protected by the Constitution. In many other countries such as France, including its overseas department of Martinique and Guadeloupe, hate speech is subject to legal action.
Eric Damaseau, a homophobic opinion leader
In one of his videos last month, Damaseau viciously attacked Kap Caraïbe as “an association of faggots” who engage in “faggot tricks”. He uses the term “makoumè”, a highly disparaging term for queers in West Indian Creole.
In another video shot a few days later, Damaseau expressed outrage at the French Victoires de la Musique award ceremony, which included by a scene in which two men kissed on the mouth. He prophesied with a touch of menace: “When the divine force descends on Earth — I call it ‘the big eye’ — all the perverse powers won’t be able to do anything against it”.
“I don’t like them, I don’t like what they do, I don’t like what they give off, I don’t like what they represent, I don’t like the way they do things, the way they attack us, the way they attack children”.
He concluded: “The world is sinking on all sides”.
These words are almost the same as those he used to describe queer influencer Ronel when the latter was awarded the title of Influencer of the Year at the Antilles 2025 Trophies show of Nouvelle Radio Jeune (NRJ). He predicted then that homosexuality would lead to “the death of the country of Guadeloupe”.
Defending children’s rights
His ally, politician Eric Coriolan, from the “Sentinelles Guadeloupe” political group, claims that LGBT+ activism aims to proselytize young people. In connection with such statements, he has been summoned to appear before the court in Fort-de-France, Martinique.
Damaseau and Coriolan face up to one year’s imprisonment and 45,000 euros in fines – or more in the event of a repeat offence – under article 33 of the July 29, 1881, French law on the freedom of the press, although this doesn’t seem to be dampening their spirits.
A response from LGBT+ organizations
Knowing that several legal proceedings against Damaseau are already underway, Leïla, president of Secret’s Out, an LGBT+ association in Guadeloupe, says it’s time to do something different now: “I’m planning to make videos on YouTube to produce a counter-narrative, which is essential in the fight against discrimination on the archipelago”.
For their part, the co-presidents of Kap Caraïbe, Sabine Chyl and Brice Armien-Boudré, expressed their regret that Damaseau was still present on YouTube: “His YouTube channel entitled ‘La Pause Sans Filtre’ has been closed and shut down several times, but each time he manages to recreate a new account and regain an audience”.
