First French Gay Wedding Set for June -- Mayor

Reuters | April 23, 2004

[nwrep]

PARIS (Reuters) - A leading Green politician said on Thursday he would conduct the first same-sex wedding in France this June, a move likely to be opposed by religious leaders in the traditionally Catholic country.

Noel Mamere said he would unite two gay men living in a district of Begles, a suburb of the southwestern city of Bordeaux, of which he is mayor.

In France, couples must undergo a civil wedding conducted by their local mayor for their union to be legal.

"There's nothing extraordinary about marrying two people of the same sex in the European Union, because Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands have done it already and the new Spanish prime minister...has put it in his political program," Mamere said.

"(Homosexuals) are the last category of French people who are banned from getting married," he said, adding there was nothing in French law to ban such unions.

Civil unions between same-sex partners have been legal in France since 2000, but gay lobby groups say these fall short of legal marriages as they do not come with benefits such as adoption rights or the same fiscal advantages.

If the wedding goes ahead it would come just two months before a visit by Pope John Paul, head of the world's one billion Catholics and a fierce opponent of same-sex unions.

The Vatican confirmed on Thursday that the pope would travel to the pilgrimage shrine at Lourdes, in southern France, to pray to the Virgin Mary.

The visit would mark the 150th anniversary of the Church doctrine commonly referred to as the immaculate conception, which states that the mother of Jesus Christ was born free of original sin.

[ken5050]

what would be very interesting to see, considering that France is now, what 10-20% Muslim..would be to see French Muslims protesting this...

[VOA]

I wonder if The French will be their wonderful egalitarian (tolerant) selves when
the first French Muslim decides to deliver a little Shari'a by assaulting
some of the infidel practitioners of homosexual marriage.

[LA Conservative]

They don't call it "Gay Paris" for nothing.

[Paleo Conservative]

what would be very interesting to see, considering that France is now, what 10-20% Muslim..would be to see French Muslims protesting this...

Why protest it? When Muslims become a majority in France, they'll have a ready made list.

[AntiGuv]

France is 5-10% Muslim.

[ErnBatavia]

[AntiGuv]

France's Muslim community, the largest in any state in the European Union, currently represents approximately 7 percent of the nation's 60 million people.

Current Trends Point To Future Muslim-Dominated France

[JeeperFreeper]

Within a few decades the muslims will be toppling walls on the betrothed.

[festus]

A gay frenchman. What will they think of next ?

[Savage Beast]

"(Homosexuals) are the last category of French people who are banned from getting married."

No no, Noel. Ce n'est pas vrai. Children cannot get married--no matter how in love they are. And people cannot marry their mothers, fathers, sons, or daughters--no matter how in love they are. People cannot marry groups of people. And people cannot marry animals--and goodness knows there are many people who love their animals. You must try to remain faithful to the facts, Noel.

[Savage Beast]

"France 25 years from now could be an essentially Muslim nation"

...with a nuclear arsenal.

[LibFreeUSA]

"French Gay Wedding".... long overdue, IMHO.

[CrazyIvan]

Gee, Frenchmen can now wear white as well as wave it.

[Just Lori]

"There's nothing extraordinary about marrying two people of the same sex in the EUROPEAN UNION, because Belgium, Sweden and the Netherlands have done it already and the new Spanish prime minister...has put it in his political program," Mamere said.

European Union........ Rings kinda like UNION of Soviet Socialist Republics...... Kinda Unnerving.