He served two terms as a deputy in the French Parliament (2002-2012), representing the Union for a Popular Movement (UMP).

In January 2006, Vanneste became the first French citizen to be fined €3,000 (in the first instance, but later relaxed) for his homophobic remarks.

During a debate in the National Assembly of France, and afterwards in the media, he declared homosexual behavior a threat to the survival of humanity, and "morally inferior" to heterosexuality.

[2] In 2012, Vanneste again encountered controversy after referring to the deportation from France of homosexuals in the Holocaust as a "famous legend", though he acknowledges that they were persecuted in other parts of the Reich.

[4] Dominique de Villepin, the former French Prime Minister also admitted that "on historical grounds", his comments were true.