BBC News Europe
18 May 2013 Last updated at 08:24 GMT
France gay marriage: Hollande signs bill into law
France's president has signed into law a controversial bill making the country
the ninth in Europe, and 14th globally, to legalise gay marriage.
On Friday, the Constitutional Council rejected a challenge by the right-wing
opposition, clearing the way for Francois Hollande to sign the bill.
He said: "I have taken [the decision]; now it is time to respect the law of the
Republic."
The first gay wedding could be held 10 days after the bill's signing.
But Parliamentary Relations Minister Alain Vidalies told French TV he expected
the first ceremonies to take place "before 1 July".
Constitutional challenge
Mr Hollande and his ruling Socialist Party have made the legislation their
flagship social reform since being elected a year ago.
After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by
France's Senate and National Assembly last month.
The bill was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds by the main
right-wing opposition UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage "did not
run contrary to any constitutional principles," and that it did not infringe on
"basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty".
It said the interest of the child would be paramount in adoption cases,
cautioning that legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the
"right to a child".
Comedian Frigide Barjot, who has become a leading mouthpiece for the anti-gay
marriage movement, denounced the ruling as "a provocation" and called for the
campaign to continue.
Catholic concerns
Scores of protesters took to the streets of Paris to voice their opposition to
the ruling on Friday: previous, occasionally violent, demonstrations against
the bill have drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets.
UMP President Jean-Francois Cope said he regretted the Constitutional Council's
decision but would respect it. Another senior UMP figure, Herve Mariton, said
the party would come up with alternative proposals in 2017 that were "more
respectful of the rights of children".
The anti-gay marriage lobby, backed by the Catholic Church and conservative
opposition, argues the bill will undermine an essential building block of
society.
Opinion polls have suggested that around 55-60% of French people support gay
marriage, but only about 50% approve of gay adoption.
France is now the 14th country to legalise gay marriage after New Zealand last
month.
It is also the ninth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriage after
legalisation in the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, but also
in strongly Catholic Portugal and Spain. Legislation is also moving through the
UK Parliament.
But the measure has aroused stronger than expected opposition in France - a
country where the Catholic Church was thought to have lost much of its
influence over the public.
In January, a protest in Paris against the bill attracted some 340,000 people
according to police - one of the biggest public demonstrations in France in
decades. Organisers put the figure at 800,000.
Since then, both sides have held regular street protests.
Mr Hollande has been struggling with the lowest popularity ratings of any
recent French president, with his promises of economic growth so far failing to
bear fruit and unemployment now above 10%.
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