French gay marriage laws exclu some foreigners

Contents:

• TEN YEARS OF GAY MARRIAGE FRANCE: SAME-SEX UPL REFLECT ON A OF CHANGE
• MEET FRANCE’S FIRST MARRIED GAY COUPLE
• FRENCH GAY MARRIAGE LAWS EXCLU SOME FOREIGNERS

TEN YEARS OF GAY MARRIAGE FRANCE: SAME-SEX UPL REFLECT ON A OF CHANGE

Consumg love between two young men France's Normandy regn 1985 is the subject of gay French tr Franis Ozon's latt film, aptly tled Summer of 85. Wh s settg at the height of the '80s, s European backdrop, and soundtrack that clus classics om the Cure and Banarama, Summer of 85 is sure to draw parisons to another gay-themed arthoe film recent memory -- Lu Guadagno's Call Me by Your Name. May 17 is the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia.

This Wednday also marks exactly 10 years sce gay marriage beme legal France. 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. (MORE: France Legaliz Gay Marriage Dpe Vol and Angry Opposn).

MEET FRANCE’S FIRST MARRIED GAY COUPLE

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. Even after the French Senate passed the bill legalizg gay marriage two weeks ago, the protts did not let up. 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.

The issue, he says, would ntue to foc on stoppg gay upl om procreatg. 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.

FRENCH GAY MARRIAGE LAWS EXCLU SOME FOREIGNERS

The tensy of gay-marriage protts has surprised many, perhaps bee France has a fairly progrsive attu toward marriage and relatnships. And Bertrand Delanoë, who has been mayor of Paris sce 2001, is openly gay, a fact that is accepted by most Parisians whout qutn. For Hollan, his succs makg gay marriage legal has been polilly ccial.

But the bter actns over gay parentg shows ltle signs of easg. 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. The opposn to gay parentg remas strong, however.

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. In a recent Ifop poll, two-thirds of those intifyg themselv as grandparents opposed gay parentg, a sharp difference om younger French voters. That suggts that as years go on the opposn to allowg gay upl to have children will shrk.

“The great majory of youth are favor of gay parents, ” Fourquet said. ” Legal or not, France’s first married gay uple ma clear their tentns yterday. 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.

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. The uncil [that ultimately cis on adoptn s] is Catholic and they’ll never give a child to a gay uple. One year later, they had adopted two boys om Brazil – and acquired a bter taste about France and gay rights.