Tag: France

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Paris: Over 100,000 show support for same-sex marriage in France

The streets of Paris were filled today by over 100,000 supporters for the passage of marriage equality there.

From the New York Times:

Demonstrators waved banners emblazoned with phrases like “Equality of rights is not a threat” and chanted: “What do you want? Equality! When do you want it? Now!”

Another placard showed a version of the French government’s seal, but with two Mariannes kissing. Under the words “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity” was the slogan “No more, no less!”

According to the police, the march attracted about 125,000 people, twice the number that took part in a similar demonstration in mid-December. Two weeks ago, a rally by those opposed to the proposal drew what the police said were 340,000 people into the streets of Paris.

In contrast to the opponents who demonstrated two weeks ago, many of the marchers on Sunday were relatively young and personally invested in the future of the law.

Nicolas Marquart, 37, a physiotherapist, made the trip from Strasbourg with his partner, with whom he is in a “civil solidarity pact,” and another gay couple. “I’m here as a gay man, and because it would be nice, since we are still in the 21st century after all, to see our morals evolve. It would be a good thing to all have the same rights.”

Other estimates say today’s crowd may have been as large as 400,000.  

(via Towleroad)

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Support for marriage equality increases in France

A new poll out of France shows a small improvement in the number of voters who support marriage equality.

From Reuters:

The number of people who support the legalisation of same-sex marriage in France has risen despite major protests against the government’s planned reforms earlier this month, a new poll by Ifop for news website Atlantico.fr showed.

The proportion of those surveyed supporting the change in the law rose to 63 percent from 60 percent in early January and December.

Support for adoption rights for gay couples also rose by 3 percentage points, although the country remains divided on the issue, with 49 percent in favour, according to the international marketing firm.

(source)

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Paris: Thousands gather to protest same-sex marriage in France

Thousands of protesters marched through the streets of Paris today in opposition to the same-sex marriage bill proposed by President Francois Hollande and his Socialist Party.

Organisers reserved five high-speed trains and 900 buses to bring protesters from provincial towns to the capital, some before dawn, to join Parisians and display the extent of the opposition that has built up in recent weeks. “Nobody expected this two or three months ago,” said Frigide Barjot, a flamboyant comedian leading the “Demo for All” she described as “multicultural, multireligious and multisexual.” Strongly backed by the Catholic hierarchy, lay activists have mobilised a coalition of church-going families, political conservatives, Muslims, evangelicals and even homosexuals opposed to gay marriage. “We want this draft law to be withdrawn,” Patricia Soullier, a protest organiser, told BFM-TV before boarding a Paris-bound train in Montpellier in the south of France. Hollande angered opponents of same-sex marriage by trying to avoid public debate on the reform, which Justice Minister Christiane Taubira described as “a change in civilisation”, and wavering about some of its details.

Reports vary in terms of the number of protesters that took part, with some press accounts estimating the crowd “in the tens of thousands” while the organizers say more than 800,000.

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Huge rally in Paris for marriage equality

Thousands took the streets of Paris on Sunday near the Place de la Bastille to rally for marriage equality and for laws that allow same-sex couples to adopt — both of which are being considered by lawmakers. 

Their signs read, “Same Families, Same Rights!” “Adoption For All Couples,” and “Biphobia, Transphobia, Enough!’

A French flag is inscribed with the message, “‘Gay marriage, yes, Sad marriage, no.”

More pics at Advocate.com

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Huge gay kiss-in held in Paris as France considers marriage equality


LGBT people kissing in front of Hôtel de Ville by f100001572602509

Videographer Morgane Thibault sjares this video he shot of a massive kiss-in held last night in front of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris. The Hôtel de Ville is the building housing the City of Paris’s administration.

He writes:

This is a video I shot last night in Paris while LGBT people were kissing in front of Hotel de Ville, to show support for the “marriage for all” bill which would extend marriage rights and adoption rights to homosexual couples. The bill is being harshly debated by a very aggressive right wing, which has prompted LGBT groups to show support in various ways including this symbolic action (a nod to the famous “Baiser de l’hotel de ville” photograph by Robert Doisneau)

(via Towleroad)

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France: Marriage equality to be approved October 31, 2012

According to PinkNews, The French government is looking to October 31st as the day when the first draft of its marriage equality law will be approved.

Despite widespread political and religious opposition, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault insisted there would be no backtracking on a manifesto promise by President Francois Hollande in an interview with AFP. More than 1,200 French mayors and deputy mayors have signed a petition opposing the government’s plans, with many of them warning they will not preside over same-sex ceremonies. However, this represents less than one percent of the total number of mayors and deputy mayors in France.

The Socialist Party holds a strong majority and President Francois Hollande has vowed that same-sex marriages will commence nationwide by summer.

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France looks to legalize marriage equality by 2013

Come October, it looks like France will join other European countries like Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and Spain in allowing gay marriage.

From LGBTQNation:

The French government is expected to introduce legislation in October that would legalize same-sex marriage, a move that would bring France in line with several European countries and fulfill an campaign promise by President François Hollande.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, had previously announced in the French Parliament that gay and lesbian couples would be permitted to marry and adopt children by 2013.

“In October, we will send a bill to the National Assembly and the Senate to allow same-sex couples to marry,” Ayrault said Saturday, in an address to Socialist Party members at their annual gathering. “It would also allow them to form families and adopt children.”

Once introduced, the bill will be debated in France’s two houses of Parliament, which are both controlled by Hollande’s Socialist Party.

France legalized civil partnerships in the 1990s. Polls show a majority of French citizens support marriage equality.