Thomas Mariard
Thomas Mariard-Andrsunn | |
|---|---|
 Mariard at an activism event in 2018 | |
| Born | December 26, 1991 |
| Education | École polytecnique de Leuyon (did not graduate) Université de Roullière (2016) |
| Known for | Gay rights activism |
| Spouse(s) | Aldryk Andrsunn (m. 2019) |
| Children | 1 daughter |
| Parent(s) |
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Thomas Victor Mariard-Andrsunn is a Lyncanestrian gay rights activist. He is primarily known for publicly coming out in 2013 during the final years of his father's first premiership. His coming out is highly credited with pressuring his father's government to pass the legalization of same-sex unions in Lyncanestria. In 2014, he dropped out of the École polytecnique de Leuyon where he was studying finance, instead moving to the University of Roullière where he received his degree in history in 2016. As the son of the Prime Minister, he has used his celebrity to champion gay activism, particularly same-sex couples' right to adoption which was repealed by national plebiscite under the Moulins administration.
Early life
Childhood
Thomas Mariard was born in Angers on 26 December 1991, the first of three children to Luc Mariard, at the time a private attorney, and his wife Pénélope Carrier, a schoolteacher. He attended primary school at L'école Sainte-Geneviève, a prestigious all-boys academy in Mont Aixelle-Guiscarpin.
Education
LGBT activism
Coming out and early activism
In February 2013 Mariard contacted La Métropolitaine to offer an interview. Reportedly, Mariard sought the interview using the pretext of the recently-proposed bipartisan bill which sought to privatize a number of federal public universities. Interviewer Amélie Jeunet did begin by asking about his university experience and how his school would be impacted--the École polytecnique de Leuyon was one of the proposed schools to be privatized. When Jeunet began asking more personal life questions did he segue to disclosing his sexuality, discussing his closeted life at the Hôtel Bévarez. The interview, originally released in print the next day, was also recorded and televised by Canal 2. He, his father and the magazine were heavily criticized by Conservatives after the interview was released.
Mariard said in following interviews that he had been planning to come out in a public way since early 2012.
Activism under the Moulins administration
On 14 March 2016, the Moulins government announced that the question of same-sex civil unions would be placed up for vote in a national plebiscite.
Personal life
Mariard is married to Aldryk Andrsunn, an academic administrator of Ottonian descent. They met as students at the Univesity of Roullière and have been partnered since 2015. The two were wed in a private ceremony in South Ottonia in 2019 and have one adopted daughter together named Mabel. Apart from gay rights activism, Mariard is also a vegan and environmental activist.