Opposition Takes to Streets to Protest
The Socialist-controlled Senate, the upper house of the French Parliament, on April 9th approved the most crucial article of a draft law that would legalize same-sex marriage in France. This Article 1 removes opposite gender as a condition of the right to marriage and was adopted by a vote of 179 to 157 in the National Assembly on February 2nd. On February 12th, the entire bill won approval by a vote of 329 to 229.
Both houses of the French parliament have already approved the bill in a first reading. The final second reading is expected on April 23. It also allows for adoption by same-sex couples and is endorsed by President Francois Hollande. If passed, it would make France the world’s fourteenth country to legalize same-sex unions.
Last Ditch Efforts by Opponents
Right-wing leaders have mounted a campaign against gay marriage in this largely Catholic country. This week, MPs in parliament debated and gay activists reported a rise in attacks on gays in recent months and weeks. Violence by four suspects at Lille gay bar was reported last week. They are accused of intentionally targeting gay customers in the bar, punching the bar manager and causing material damage. Interior Minister Manuel Valls said on April 18 that he “condemns, with the greatest firmness, the homophobic aggression perpetrated last Wednesday in a bar in Lille and Bordeaux.”
Several rallies, some violent, have been held to protest the imminent passage of the legislation. Some demonstrators fought police and damaged cars along the Champs-Elysees Avenue. Commented Jean-Marie Le Pen, the far-right former National Front leader, he was amazed by the “extraordinary “ and “practically permanent opposition to the reform. It is normal that people demonstrate against a bill they oppose, but it’s a surprising phenomenon, including for people in power, to see that the demonstrations concern hundreds of thousands of people,” he said. “It’s quite exceptional.”
Officers have had to use tear gas on protestors in recent rallies. Seventy-five people were detained. Even in the National Assembly, deputies had scuffles while debating the legislation. A mass protest in Paris is planned for May 26 if the law is approved to demand its withdrawal and a gay marriage referendum .
Legacy of the Past
Catholic fundamentalists and far-right nationalists will not accept the legitimacy of a left-wing government nor the separation between church and state from two centuries ago. While a majority of French people, as evidenced by opinion polls, support gay marriage, a slight majority opposes adoption rights for homosexual couples. Said Michel Wievorka, one of France’s well-known sociologists, “it was clumsy of the government to initially suggest that the bill would also legalize medically assisted procreation for gay couples.”
On April 21, a fifty-eight year-old lawyer, Patrick Poydenot, stood on the sidelines with his son, one of thousands, to stop the controversial gay marriage legislation from being approved. “We believe that this bill is a threat to the social fabric.”
