French gay marriage laws exclu some foreigners

Contents:

• MEET FRANCE’S FIRST MARRIED GAY COUPLE
• FIRST GAY MARRIAGE CELEBRATED FRANCE
• FIRST GAY UPLE WED FRANCE AMID TIGHT SECURY
• FRENCH GAY MARRIAGE LAWS EXCLU SOME FOREIGNERS
• FRENCH GAY UPL GET RIGHT TO 'MARRY, ADOPT CHILDREN'
• GAY PARIS
• FRENCH HIGH URT GRANTS NEW RIGHTS TO GAY PARENTS

MEET FRANCE’S FIRST MARRIED GAY COUPLE

France’s first gay marriage, officiated the town hall of Montpellier ont of hundreds of people, was as much the culmatn of a bter polil battle as the us of a great love. For months Paris streets have been racked wh vlent clash that have drawn enraged crowds onto the streets to prott agast a central policy of Hollan’s Socialist Party, which vowed s electn mpaign a year ago to legalize gay marriage.

As Aut and Boile were takg their vows on Wednday, Bno Vercken, a member of the polil board of the right-wg Christian Democratic Party, was tellg France 24 Televisn that the battle was not over, spe the hard-won rights of gay upl. Durg months of fierce bat on the floor of France’s Natnal Assembly and on the streets, the schism among French voters has explod around the issue of nuclear fai, rather than around homosexualy self. While the law now allows gay upl to adopt children, stops short of permtg them to have blogil children through assisted reproductn — an issue that general remas highly ntent, even for heterosexual upl, this largely Catholic untry.

“We need a father and a mother, ” Vercken said on televisn, echog the major argument that has been phed for months by gay-marriage protters. The anizatn, which has surveyed thoands of French cizens on gay marriage durg the past months, found that voters creasgly grew acctomed to the ia as the months of polil bate wore on; today, about two-thirds of those polled said they were favor of gay marriage. Latt polls taken last week found between 45% and 50% oppose adoptn for gay parents, and the figur tend to skew higher when assisted reproductn is discsed.

FIRST GAY MARRIAGE CELEBRATED FRANCE

In a recent Ifop poll, two-thirds of those intifyg themselv as grandparents opposed gay parentg, a sharp difference om younger French voters.

May 17 (Thomson Rters Foundatn) - When France legalised gay marriage exactly 10 years ago, Nilas and his partner David uldn’t wa to tie the knot.

Dpe support for the reform Montpellier, which boasts of beg France's most gay-iendly town, officials scrapped plans to broadst the weddg live on a giant TV screen and stead beamed live onle to the cy's webse. "Love each other, love , love one another, bee 's important, " said Aut om a balny to a crowd of hundreds of well-wishers outsi the cy hall, addg the next step would be a law allowg gay upl to adopt children. Backed by a slim majory of French and feted by gay men and lbians when me to force this month, a law makg France the 14th untry to allow same-sex marriage has triggered street protts by nservativ, Catholics and extreme right-wgers.

FIRST GAY UPLE WED FRANCE AMID TIGHT SECURY

" Frigi Barjot, a pk-clad edian who leads the anti-gay marriage movement, has urged her supporters to stay away om Wednday's weddg and exprsed ncern at right-wgers who have hurled bricks, bottl and firecrackers durg march. Earlier, French Interr Mister Manuel Valls pledged to toughen penalti for homophobic behavr, cg an crease the number of threats agast gay people on onle foms. " Homosexualy, still a crime some 78 untri, has been legal France sce the Revolutn, and the age of nsent was lowered to that of heterosexual relatns 1981.

FRENCH GAY MARRIAGE LAWS EXCLU SOME FOREIGNERS

Aut, 40, and Boile, 29, were the first gay uple to apply to marry as Print Hollan was phg through the law, which grants equal marriage and adoptn rights that go beyond existg l for civil partnerships. Sce then, ralli that are partly fuelled by anger at the ernment over other issu like the enomy appear to have erod support for the gay marriage law; now stands at 53 percent, wh 47 percent opposed, reflectg a ep natnal divisn, particularly over the adoptn rights clus.

FRENCH GAY UPL GET RIGHT TO 'MARRY, ADOPT CHILDREN'

Last week, one opponent of gay marriage shot himself ad at the altar of Paris's Notre Dame thedral and on Sunday hundreds of thoands marched the pal to mand the law's repeal. In June, France was wrapped ntroversy after two regnal adoptn agency officials ma disparagg remarks about same-sex upl: one sayg that agenci would always favor heterosexual upl over homosexual on, and another that same-sex upl were “atypil” and should be prepared to adopt “atypil” children – those who are olr or wh disabili.

GAY PARIS

Jt, who was adopted himself, knew how long the procs uld last – for all upl, gay or straight – and didn’t want to durg one of the terviews halfway through the lengthy, paperwork-tensive procs, Jt says, “A psychologist told , ‘In any se, you’ll never adopt France. But social norms and a relig history rooted nservative Catholicism have prevented LGBT upl om exercisg the rights to which they are legally June, France was wrapped ntroversy after two regnal adoptn agency officials ma disparagg remarks about same-sex upl – one sayg that agenci would always favor heterosexual upl over homosexual on, and another that same-sex upl were “atypil” and should be prepared to adopt “atypil” children – those who were olr or wh ments have dredged up latent discrimatn a untry that thought had progrsed further than that, and have forced French society to look ward for solutns. “In terms of homosexualy general, France is still que nservative even when to acceptg same-sex marriage, ” says Sébastien Chv, a French soclogist who studi genr and sexualy at the Universy of Lsanne.

FRENCH HIGH URT GRANTS NEW RIGHTS TO GAY PARENTS

While parts of the Catholic Church have embraced homosexuals and their partnerships, the official le remas agast such is often a problem for same-sex upl adoptn proceedgs.

”In addn, there are statistilly fewer children to adopt France than the US, so that when fay anizatns are prented wh multiple dossiers – cludg heterosexual and homosexual upl – the heterosexual upl ually w observers agree, however, that the swiftns wh which the public and the ernment reacted to the ntroversial adoptn statements June is an ditor of progrs ma.

Media ptn, The moment Vcent At and Bno Boile said "oui" at Montpellier cy hallTwo men have bee the first gay uple to wed France, jt days after Print Franis Hollan signed the same-sex marriage bill to law.

Vcent Aut and Bno Boile said "oui" the southern cy of Montpellier amid tight Hollan had warned he would not accept any disptn to the new legislatn has proved ntroversial and sparked vlent anti-gay-marriage lobby, backed by the Catholic Church and nservative opposn, argu the bill unrm an sential buildg block of ceremony was broadst live on French TV. "Love yourselv, let's love ourselv, bee 's important, " he ptn, Montpellier rints exprs their view on the weddgExtra securyMr Aut, a 40-year-old gay rights activist, met his 30-year-old partner 2006. Earlier, the Constutnal Council led that same-sex marriage "did not n ntrary to any nstutnal prcipl, " and that did not ge on "basic rights or liberti or natnal sovereignty" officials dited they had objectns to rryg out gay weddg ceremoni.

Opn polls have suggted that about 55-60% of French people support gay marriage, but only about 50% approve of gay is now the 14th untry to legalise gay marriage after New Zealand last is also the nth untry Europe to allow same-sex marriage after legalisatn the tradnally liberal Netherlands and Sndavia, but also strongly Catholic Portugal and Spa.