KurtFF8
13th November 2011, 02:10
Source (http://www.english.rfi.fr/europe/20111112-gay-couple-communist-mayor-defy-french-law-same-sex-marriage)
By RFI (http://www.english.rfi.fr/auteur/rfi)
A French gay couple were married on Saturday in the south-western town of Cabestany in a gesture they and the towns Communist mayor hope will help change French law, which does not recognise homosexual marriage.
There are times when you have to be an outlaw, declared Cabestany's (http://maps.google.fr/maps?hl=fr&q=cabestany&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x12b0654590b773c1:0x407882116676e50,Cabesta ny&gl=fr&ei=e3a-ToPcCYn04QSh8YHABA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CEMQ8gEwAg) mayor Jean Vila before Saturday mornings ceremony, appealing to other mayors to follow his example.
Saturdays happy couple, 37-year-old artist Guillaume and 48-year-old photo-lab manager Patrick, say they were married both as a demonstration of love and as an activist gesture so that very soon in France two people of the same sex can get married legally.
We are citizens, the same as everybody else, they commented.
Their marriage lines contain the phrase unfortunately this document has no official character, since the law today forbids marriage between people of the same sex, but it signifies the wish of the local authority to see the law change.
The only gay marriage so far celebrated in France, in the western town of Bgles in 2004, was annulled by the courts.
Although France introduced civil partnerships, known as Pacs, in 1999, the Constitutional Council this year ruled that the law defines marriage (http://www.english.rfi.fr/node/72527) as being the union of a man and a woman.
The National Assembly rejected a Socialist bill to make same-sex marriage legal (http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20101116-france) in June thanks to the votes of the majority (http://www.english.rfi.fr/americas/20110625-new-york-approves-gay-marriage-paris-pride-wants-france-copy) of MPs who support President Nicolas Sarkozys government.
But several abstained and Solidarity Minister Roselyne Bachelot, who supports a change, declared that the question would be the debate of the 2012 presidential election.
Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Portugal do recognise gay marriage.
Families Minister Claude Greff slammed Saturdays ceremony as an electoralist provocation ahead of the 2012 presidential poll, claiming that it would only make positions more rigid.
Gay marriage around the world
http://www.english.rfi.fr/sites/english.filesrfi/imagecache/aef_image_original_format/sites/images.rfi.fr/files/aef_image/Gay_marriage__final.png
By RFI (http://www.english.rfi.fr/auteur/rfi)
A French gay couple were married on Saturday in the south-western town of Cabestany in a gesture they and the towns Communist mayor hope will help change French law, which does not recognise homosexual marriage.
There are times when you have to be an outlaw, declared Cabestany's (http://maps.google.fr/maps?hl=fr&q=cabestany&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x12b0654590b773c1:0x407882116676e50,Cabesta ny&gl=fr&ei=e3a-ToPcCYn04QSh8YHABA&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=3&ved=0CEMQ8gEwAg) mayor Jean Vila before Saturday mornings ceremony, appealing to other mayors to follow his example.
Saturdays happy couple, 37-year-old artist Guillaume and 48-year-old photo-lab manager Patrick, say they were married both as a demonstration of love and as an activist gesture so that very soon in France two people of the same sex can get married legally.
We are citizens, the same as everybody else, they commented.
Their marriage lines contain the phrase unfortunately this document has no official character, since the law today forbids marriage between people of the same sex, but it signifies the wish of the local authority to see the law change.
The only gay marriage so far celebrated in France, in the western town of Bgles in 2004, was annulled by the courts.
Although France introduced civil partnerships, known as Pacs, in 1999, the Constitutional Council this year ruled that the law defines marriage (http://www.english.rfi.fr/node/72527) as being the union of a man and a woman.
The National Assembly rejected a Socialist bill to make same-sex marriage legal (http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20101116-france) in June thanks to the votes of the majority (http://www.english.rfi.fr/americas/20110625-new-york-approves-gay-marriage-paris-pride-wants-france-copy) of MPs who support President Nicolas Sarkozys government.
But several abstained and Solidarity Minister Roselyne Bachelot, who supports a change, declared that the question would be the debate of the 2012 presidential election.
Spain, The Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden and Portugal do recognise gay marriage.
Families Minister Claude Greff slammed Saturdays ceremony as an electoralist provocation ahead of the 2012 presidential poll, claiming that it would only make positions more rigid.
Gay marriage around the world
http://www.english.rfi.fr/sites/english.filesrfi/imagecache/aef_image_original_format/sites/images.rfi.fr/files/aef_image/Gay_marriage__final.png