Update: guess those protests weren’t so peaceful after all. Pink News reports:
Anti-equal marriage protesters faced up to riot police in the centre of paris on Tuesday evening, sparking fierce protest, as France’s Parliament voted to legalise equal marriage. Protests turned violent, as stones, bottles, and iron bars were used as weapons against riot police deployed to protect parliament. The police eventually used teargas against the violent protesters.
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It’s official – the Assembly just passed the marriage equality bill with the Senate’s amendments – the bill now goes to President Hollande for his signature. Gay Star News reports:
The ‘Marriage for All’ bill will now be sent to President Francois Hollande, who has 15 days to sign it into law. Anti-gay marriage opponents, who have criticized the French government for pushing the issue too firmly and too quickly, have one last way to stop it. The center-right opposition party UMP has vowed to appeal to the Constitutional Council (CC). If the UMP can gather 60 senators or deputies, the CC can annul or veto the bill if it rules it unconstitutional. It will likely only delay Hollande signing marriage equality into law by a month at most.
Joe.My.God reports that the head of the Assembly ordered rowdy protesters out just before the vote. The video:
Apparently today’s protest was more peaceful than other recent rallies against the bill. Yahoo news reports:
As night fell in Paris demonstrations by opponents of the law remained peaceful. Outside the parliament building on Paris’ Left Bank there appeared to be more police than protestors. Claire Baron, 41, a mother of two, said that she “will oppose the bill until the end. “I’ll keep going to the protests, I don’t give in. The bill is not effective yet, the president of the Republic must listen to our voices. We are here to defend family values. Children need a mom and a dad,” Baron said.
The leader of the anti-marriage equality movement, meanwhile, tried to blame the violence on the pro marriage equality side. Joe.My.God has a translation of her tweet:
Google Translate: “Is not it a problem that the passage of a law arouses much hatred and violence among its supporters?”
In other twitter news, the hashtag “Il Faut Tuer Les Homosexuels” was trending today. Gay Star News reports:
A Twitter hashtag loosely translated as ‘Homosexuals must be killed’ is going viral before France’s National Assembly votes on gay marriage today (23 April). It is unknown where ‘Il Faut Tuer Les Homosexuels’ started from, but thousands of social networking users are tweeting about the trending topic. As Yagg.com points out, many are pointing to a user called Mamadou Neutron for the original tweet.
And the Advocate reports that the protests aren’t over:
Still, several antigay groups, some affiliated with the Catholic Church and other religious or conservative organizations, have declared that they will continue a legal battle by filing a legal challenge with the Constitutional Council, CNN reports. Tensions remain high as continued protests are also planned throughout the country as a reaction to the vote.
Same sex weddings in France may begin as soon as June.
Find more articles and gay wedding resources in France.