France: Gay marriage legal by 2013

[Livewire]

A friend of mine posted this via his Facebook, re-posting it here:

French lawmakers have confirmed they will introduce legislation to allow same-sex marriage in October.

Fulfilling a campaign promise of President Franҫois Hollande, the package reforms will also allow adoption by gay couples.

It is unknown whether other promised reforms, such as transgender people being allowed to legally define their gender before surgery, granting lesbians fertility treatment, and lifting the lifetime ban on gay and bisexual men giving blood, will also be included in the bill.

In an address to Socialist Party members, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: 'In October, we will send a bill to the National Assembly and the Senate to allow same-sex couples to marry.

'It would also allow them to form families and adopt children.'

Once introduced, the bill will be debated in France's two houses of Parliament, which are both controlled by Hollande's Socialist Party.

The first same-sex marriages are likely to happen in spring 2013.

As Gay Star News reported earlier this year, legalizing same-sex marriage was one pledge Hollande made during his campaign for president.

On his campaign website, it said: 'Freedom is the ability to let two people in love, regardless of their sexual orientation to unite.

'Equality is to allow any couple to use the same device without legal discrimination.'

Despite France priding itself on its separation between church and state, Catholic bishops were outraged by the proposed LGBT reforms.

Dredging up a tradition not used since World War 2, the Catholic Church conducted an anti-gay prayer day to urge officials to put their 'sense of common good over the pressure to meet special demands.'

Nicolas Gougain, from gay rights group Inter-LGBT, said: 'François Hollande is committed to these reforms and they have been reaffirmed by his government.

'We can count on getting a majority in parliament and no prayer will be able to block this necessary legislation. Religion has no place in politics.'

The prayer coincided with a poll which revealed 65% of French people back gay marriage, and 53% agree with same-sex adoption.

Source

inb4 the GOP hate the french even more.


Discuss!

 

[TRIFORCE89]

My only reaction is: "Huh? I could have sworn it was already legal there o.o"

So... nothing else to say on it from me. Thought it was already legal. Apparently not. Now it will be. So, okay.

I don't get how the surgery bit and the blood giving ties into marriage.

Prayer thing is temporary. Once it happens, they'll be over it in a year

 

[Charicific]

I am not shocked :3 I just hope people don't overdo it with the gay issues and so called "equality". This doesn't look like equality to me, but rather dirty politics. Yeah I could be naive at times >.<

 

[Ivysaur]

I'm just glad to know that we beat our always-much-more-civilized neighbours by 8 years! Take that!

Also the prayer thing sounds like a last-ditch joke in a country where religion is banned from getting close to politics.

 

[LightningAlex]

Eh, religious freaks rage all the time... it's nothing to get surprised about.
Anyway, good for the LGTB people in France, they'll have much more freedom now!

 

[Mentalii]

To tell the truth I wasn't in favour of gay marriage. I have nothing at all against homosexual people, this is just that for me, marriage is a tradition, a tradition meant to unite a man and a woman, and people have to do with that. Here there was already the Civil Solidarity Pact, to allow civil union between homosexual people. It was enough. Maybe, it would have been more fair to give the CSP more rights, but in my opinion we didn't have to legalize gay marriage since we already had that.
Well, anyway I guess it's mostly a good thing so I won't complain about it.

 

[Hybrid Trainer]

To tell the truth I wasn't in favour of gay marriage. I have nothing at all against homosexual people, this is just that for me, marriage is a tradition, a tradition meant to unite a man and a woman, and people have to do with that. Here there was already the Civil Solidarity Pact, to allow civil union between homosexual people. It was enough. Maybe, it would have been more fair to give the CSP more rights, but in my opinion we didn't have to legalize gay marriage since we already had that.
Well, anyway I guess it's mostly a good thing so I won't complain about it.

When people say "gay marriage" they don't mean that churches will have to allow same sex couples to be wed and that all religions have to cater to homosexuals now. All it means is that when two gay people are officially partnered they will have the same legal rights as regular married people, such as custody over children or if they were to split up their belongings would be distributed the same as they would in a divorce. By just giving a civil partnership more rights would be pointless because then it would make having two ceremonies pointless because it would all have the same outcome.

 

[droomph]

Yeah, marriage isn't a solely Christian thing. You know how Chinese people get married? Nothing to do with Christianity whatsoever.

 

[Esper]

Good on you, France. Well, if it happens, that is, though I don't see anything stopping it save for a political scandal that takes down the current government.

I bet we'll see all of western Europe get their acts together by the end of the decade. Crossing my fingers for a miracle in the US, too.

 

[Ivysaur]

Good on you, France. Well, if it happens, that is, though I don't see anything stopping it save for a political scandal that takes down the current government.

I bet we'll see all of western Europe get their acts together by the end of the decade. Crossing my fingers for a miracle in the US, too.

Seeing how Hollande won majorities in two elections just a few months ago, something damn gigantic would have to happen in a matter of weeks. Don't even think a EU meltdown would qualify.

 

[NarutoActor]

I'm just glad to know that we beat our always-much-more-civilized neighbours by 8 years! Take that!

Also the prayer thing sounds like a last-ditch joke in a country where religion is banned from getting close to politics.

How is allowing for same sex marriage equivocate to more civilized?

 

[Livewire]

How is allowing for same sex marriage equivocate to more civilized?

Because being civillized means recognizing that little thing called basic human rights.

 

[NarutoActor]

civilized
past participle, past tense of civ·i·lize (Verb)

Verb:
(1) Bring (a place or people) to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development considered to be more advanced: "a civilized society".

(2)Polite and well-mannered.

First off, it is not a "basic human right"
secondly homosexuality brakes the morally advance clause of the definition. Case in point since homosexuality can be seen by lots of civilized people as being immoral, homosexuality is not civilized, if anything it is barbaric. (Since for a long time it broke social norms)

 

[Gabri]

I never understood why it's so much of a big deal to allow the civil union of two people of the same sex.
Which means, there's not much to say on this other than cheers to the French.

First off, it is not a "basic human right"
secondly homosexuality brakes the morally advance clause of the definition. Case in point since homosexuality can be seen by lots of civilized people as being immoral, homosexuality is not civilized, if anything it is barbaric. (Since for a long time it broke social norms)

First off, loving other people and having relationships by said people's own free will is a basic human right. It is stated NOWHERE that it has to be between people of different genders. How it is so immoral to allow two people that love each other be together in a union and start a family is a mystery to me.

Second, the majority of the French voted for its allowance, which means that they don't see it as immoral. If the majority of the people of whatever other country they live in see it as immoral, it is their business and not the French's.

And I won't even comment on you calling a loving relationship "barbaric", else I'll be banned.

(Also, "civilized" here is used as an adjective, not a verb.)

 

[Hybrid Trainer]

First off, it is not a "basic human right"
secondly homosexuality brakes the morally advance clause of the definition. Case in point since homosexuality can be seen by lots of civilized people as being immoral, homosexuality is not civilized, if anything it is barbaric. (Since for a long time it broke social norms)

Until a few decades ago being black was considered immoral and made you a lesser person because you had a different coloured skin. By going off what you've said black people should go back to being slaves like they used to be and women shouldn't be allowed to vote and should be second class citizens compared to men because that's what was socially acceptable a couple of years ago.

 

[droomph]

Standing up for what is right and what is fair are two different things.

True, homosexuality is wrong, but you can't punish someone for gay marriage as much as you can for white lies.

One, gay marriage is not as uncivilized as you think it is. If anything, it should advance civilization so that two people will be bound together, rather than a relationship with no commitment, which is pretty uncivilized imo.

And two, it's gay marriage. It's not like we're giving gay people a reason to be impolite - we're allowing them to accept something that already exists.

 

[Esper]

1. Homosexuality is not wrong, bad, or any other synonym.

2. Marriage is one of the rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (article 16) so it's a basic human right.

 

[Mephodicus]

mar·riage [mar-ij]
noun
1.
a.
the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc.

It ain't wrong, but it sure isn't going to be done under god.

 

[Ivysaur]

It ain't wrong, but it sure isn't going to be done under god.

Luckily for French homosexuals, god has nothing to do with the politics of men, as per the French Constitution.

And, after all, nobody is going to deny anybody any rights nor force any religion to accept gay marriage- it's the State (which is in no way related to any god nor any religion) the one granting rights to people. As long as nobody gets hurt nor gets their rights restricted to make way for these, what's wrong with it?

 

[Mephodicus]

No, but if homosexuals want to marry in a church, therefore it is in the house of god, and I doubt there's going to be a priest who is going to join two men (or women) together under the eyes of god.

Sure, it'll be simple to just stick them in a registry office and make them legally married in the eyes of the state, but there's no way it will be done under any orthodox religion.