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Thomas Samson / AFP - Getty Images
Protesters converged on Paris from all over France to protest same-sex marriage, which is supported by President Francois Hollande.
PARIS - Several hundred thousand people converged at the Eiffel Tower in Paris Sunday to protest President Francois Hollande's bill to legalize same-sex marriage by June.
Protesters waved pink and blue flags showing a father, mother and two children. Many had taken long train and bus rides from outside Paris.
Hollande has pledged to push through a same-sex marriage law with his Socialist party’s parliamentary majority, but his opponents have dented public support and forced deputies to put off a plan to allow lesbian couples access to artificial insemination.
Same-sex marriage is recognized in 11 countries including Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Norway and South Africa. In the U.S., it is legal in nine states and in Washington, D.C.
Champ de Mars, the long park between the Eiffel Tower and the Ecole Militaire, was packed Sunday, with organizers claiming 800,000 protesters, but police more conservatively estimating 340,000 – a large turnout even in France, where protests are a way of life.
"Nobody expected this two or three months ago," said Frigide Barjot, a flamboyant comedian leading the demonstration. At the rally, she read aloud a letter to Hollande asking him to withdraw the bill and hold a public debate on the issue.
Strongly supported by the Catholic Church, opponents of same-sex marriage have mobilized practicing Catholics, members of the extreme far-right Front National party, some Muslims, evangelicals and even a few openly gay people.
They argue that same-sex marriage would cause psychological and social harm to children, which they believe should trump the desire for equal rights for gay adults.
Organizers insist they do not oppose gays and lesbians but rather support what they say are the rights of children to have a father and a mother. Slogans on the posters and banners read, "Marriagophile, not homophobe," "All born of a father and mother" and "Paternity, maternity, equality."
"The French are tolerant, but they are deeply attached to the family and the defense of children," said Daniel Liechti, vice-president of the National Council of French Evangelicals, which urged its members to join the march.
Their efforts appear to have had an impact. Surveys indicate that popular support for gay marriage in France has slipped about 10 points to less than 55 percent since opponents started speaking out. Fewer than half of those polled recently favored giving gay couples adoption rights.
Under this pressure, French legislators dropped a plan that would allow lesbian couples access to artificial insemination.
Hollande's office, recognizing the “substantial” turnout Sunday, said it will not be swayed and that it will continue to push for a law recognizing same-sex marriage.
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Leave a Comment:
No the catholic church hurts the children ...why on earth would anybody listen to a bunch of guys that wear dresses that take a vow of celibacy dictate to them whats normal or not when it comes to sex or pro creation when they know nothing of either..
what is up with that
Amunaka, It baffles me as to why priests insist on knowing what's best for something when they have zero experience with that type of life. The only thing I can think of is that they (priests) enjoy the power and control of others. Which is what I think religion is all about anyway.
Because today didn't just arrive.It came over millenia.The church will go on.'sexless' pedophile priests will go extinct
so, france must already have laws against single parents with children, divorce, etc. I mean..they can't be hypocritical and worry about children of the small gay population while ignoring problems in the overwhelming straight population.
of course, since marriage isn't required for having children, and you can be married without having children, all this is stupid anyway.
Any people who want to marry someone besides another sex should just be given a contract to drew up between the two of them. These people do not need a marriage cirtificate to cheet on the Lord!
Get an education. It'll do you more good than worrying about what other people do.
why? we already have a legal, secular contract all ready called "marriage", a concept embedded in our secular legal system. Straight couples don't own the word "marriage".
Churches, of course, can keep their own versions of religious rites of Holy Matrimony, which aren't affected by gay secular legal marriage.
randye1, why do you think everyone has to adhere to your version of your "lord"? There are a lot of us that think your "Lord" is a myth. Keep your religion to yourself where it belongs. Live your life according to your beliefs and leave the rest of us out of it.
yeah randi,everyone knows hundreds of years ago governments across the world hoped people would understand marriage is for gays,not
Million douche bag march
Again, the Catholic Church is showing how religion has distorted the concept of love. Love not your neighbor as yourself, but love only if they do as you say! The same love that burned heretics at the stake, during the middle ages!
Will they ever learn! Will they ever stop making God in their own bigoted image? Render to Caesar the things which are Caesar's, and to God that which is God's. The trouble is, they have made Caesar, God!
Gays aren't the ones contributing to the gross overpopulation of our planet. They are part of the solution instead of contributors to the problem. I know....thoughts too deep for most to grasp....
Why would gays want to marry? It's not like they can have kids.
Many gay couples have children in the same way as their infertile heterosexual counterparts: In vitro.
LOL? Because they love their partner?? Marriage is about committed couples who want to make a lifelong promise to take care of and be responsible for each other- that's true of same-sex couples, too. Straight and gay couples want to marry for the same reasons, to build a life with the person they love. Both need the security and legal protections of marriage that help make this possible.
What does that have to do with marriage?
BTW, gays CAN and DO procreate.
Should NOT be able to bastardize a process meant to allow childless couples to emulate nature
Bigotry is the true bastardization.
pained: why not? lol, because YOU say so? that's funny.
Every major study by psychological and child welfare groups shows that kids raised in a same-sex household are no worse than those raised by heterosexual parents. If that's the case, then it's time to leave gay people be and move on.
so they have an agenda and are wrong
Pained - The only one with an agenda here is you.
What "agenda" would that be?
Sperm and eggs for sale and wombs for rent. Life as a commodity. Completely insane.
I love the French government right now. No matter the turn out they will still push for marriage equality. This is real freedom. Freedom for all. I love how they will not sway to religious intolerant noobs that just want to hurt people they don't even know and prevent them from living their lives like a normal human being should. Adopting a kid to gay parents is far better than letting them sit in some third world country and let them get shot by gangs or something.
Seriously people, think.
Shouldn't we be saying SAVE THE CHILDREN FROM THE CATHOLIC CHURCH?
It's been a good decade since the deapth and breadth of the Catholic Church's need to keep pedophile priests safe, and STILL more accusations are popping up... yet these are the people who want to tell others that same sex couples harm children?
Seriously?
Two loving parents VS some dirty child raping pig.
Way to go Catholics, you've proven your intelligence and logic to the world again and again, and here you go with the bigotry.
Many institutions are millenia old,run by old men who haven't noticed the passage of time.Time DOES march on and these institutions will change.The church is instrumental in the underpinnings of our culture,for better or worse.I like to think better,as ultimately,DISSATISFACTION was part of the process ending in the USA- a pretty great pay off
It is sad to see people march to support discrimination and injustice.
Let them march. They've had their day and now France will embrace marriage equality. Viva la France!
The French AND the Catholic Church have done more harm to children over the centuries than gay people could ever do.
Children need SUPPORT at home, not just "a Dad and a Mom."
If a child can get the attention, support and love it needs to flourish and grow into a confident human being from two gay men or two gay women, vs. a traditional man-woman couple who scream at the child, beat it for no good reason, and eventually completely wreck the child's fragile psyche by constantly arguing and finally acrimoniously splitting up, then what is everyone's problem?
Who here thinks Kim Kardashian has what it takes to be a great Mother? What's she on now, husband-boyfriend-lover No. 73? Imagine growing up in that household; you'll have plenty of toys to play w/ if nothing else, whilst Mommie Dearest is ignoring you when the cameras start to click and whirl. And those intolerant French people think married gay couples would hurt a child?
Ahh yet another reason to hate the french
Gay people suck! Just sayin'.
Bigotry sucks. Just sayin'.
pmdww2
Go back to the "GAY BAR" Biatch!
timl--whatever, go grow a brain and get an education--try finishing the 4th grade why don't you?? If you want to see someone who sucks and who is also the epitome of ignorance, take a look in the mirror. pmdww2, you are correct--bigotry sucks, and so do ignoramus douchebags like timlmillinois--man, what a stupid hook.
EK
Get A Life You brainless MORON!!! I think you need to try to finish the first grade. Go to bed PUNK!
Being gay is not natural and was never intended. The reasons are obvious. If 2 people of the same sex come to the conclusion that they want to be together, that is their choice. But, by doing so, it should also be required that they not be able to adopt a child or have a child thru a sperm donor or have another woman carry their baby. For them to have a child they are exposing that child to things that are unnatural and will cause psychological, emotional and developmental problems for that child. What happens when they are old enough to want to have sleep overs and the other kids parents won't allow their children to stay over because they know the "parents" are gay? Also, the kids are going to feel out of place at school functions where the parents are involved. The fact is, it shouldn't happen. If God had intended for it to happen then it would be possible for 2 people of the same sex to procreate on their own and that simply isn't the case. Once a person becomes an adult I don't really care what they do as long as it doesn't affect me but a child has no choice but to be in the situation they are put in and for that reason, gays should not be allowed to have children, period.
Homosexuality is considered a normal part of human sexuality by the following professional mental health associations: The American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Counseling Association, the Canadian Psychological Association, and the National Association of Social Workers.
Jonathan, it's time you came out of the closet now. People opposed to gay marriage that aren't gay actually can present logical evidence to support their views without resorting to heresay and relying on the novel known as the Bible. Those that are adamantly opposed to gay marriage or homosexuality in general and do use heresay and the Bible to support their views are more often than not closeted homosexuals. How long before someone catches you gettting your groove on with another guy like we all know you do? We don't care that you really are gay. You'll realize you'll be a much happier person when you stop hating yourself and others for being gay.
Jonathan
Hi five on that comment. You are on the mark! I agree totally. I have two boys, not from any gay artificial marriage.
Archman
I guess you call yourself that because you arch over and let a man run the hershey highway! I don't like gay guys and I was hit on when I was a teenager. I beat the crap out of the guy and made sure everyone in school knew what he was. He was shunned after that and moved away. His Dad killed himself and now the queer is living with his boyfriend.
Well Archman you are a wonderful human being. I invite you to do the same to one of my homosexual friends. He is an ex navy seal, 6'2", 190 pounds with a 5th degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. He also bench presses 290. So please head to Las Vegas,look him up and have fun "beating the crap" out of him. I am sure he will thoroughly enjoy your visit.
Progressive
I think you directed your comment to the wrong person. Archman is a fudge packer.
Riiiiight, because men and women always get along sooo well in relationships. Wake up! As a hetero female, I can tell you straight up that hetero males are the UNnaturally slimiest creatures on earth. They are also way more obsessed with performing sodomy than any gay guy.
I have two boys, not from any gay artificial marriage.
-------------------------------------------------
So how many baby Mamas do you have? Are you married? If so, are you married to you childrens Mother(s)?...
Angela LD
Is that any of your business or are you a cougar cruising for a date?
You seem to think other people's private lives are your business.
Is that any of your business or are you a cougar cruising for a date?
------------------------------------------------------------
Sure, I LOVE ignorant, uneducated, homophobic, buffoons.
Get real, I was making a point. Too bad you have your head too far up your own butt (IRONY) to get it. Try taking it out once in a while, take a big whiff or reality, maybe you'll learn something that way.
But, I doubt it. Your posts indicates that not possible for someone like yourself. Somehow, I think I hit a nerve. So, How about answering the questions? Try not to lie either. God knows when you're lying, want to go to hell for lying to someone over the internet?...
Hey Porter-3297415, why weren't you saying those things last week when you were making out with that homo at the party last weekend?
Do they think if they ban marriage that gay couples will stop having kids? Seriously?
Talk about hurting kids...the same kids will still exist, they'll just have fewer legal protections for their families. That's what I would consider hurting kids.
How come I never read about protests aimed at making divorce illegal or adultery? I would imagine both of those would be very harmful to marriage and kids. With a 50% divorce rate, one would think that would be high on the list of things to protest against...instead, people spend a lot of time and energy going after a very small segment of the population. Something tells me it's not really about marriage or kids, but more about personal issues.
With over 50% of births in France now being from unwed mothers --higher than the United States' -- you'd think they'd have other concerns about kids.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/01/15/us-france-population-idUSL1406071420080115
"Porter-3297415"
That last part is telling: even some "gay" people oppose same-sex marriage. In the US, 25% of self-described "gay" men vote Republican; and many of them oppose same-sex marriage. And for good reason. Same-sex marriage is a VERY BAD idea.
Geez "Porter" you do realize that even some "straight" people oppose hetrosexual marriage. Or were you not aware of the millions of Americans who have been living together for years and not only have no desire to get married, but in fact are vehemently opposed to marriage.
As for your second point, please give one valid/fact based reason why "Same-sex marriage is a VERY BAD idea."
while youtr at it - give us some reasons why its a good one - the "because we want to" position would also work for assault rifles
1) Equal protection of the law. America should have no 2nd-class citizens who are denied full civil rights.
2) Gays and straights have the exact same interests in the property and kinship rights of marriage.
3) The children of gay couples have an interest in the legal protections marriage provides, just like the children of straight couples do.
4) Society has an interest in fostering stable relationships. Married people are far less likely to be dependent on the state than single people, and it also benefits the economy.
Very well put, skrekk!
Gay is wrong, period. Keep it in the closet, Children do not need to be influenced in that way. Marriage is and should be with a Man and a Woman ONLY , period, this is wrong and should be against the law, in every Country, period. People need to stand up and put a stop to this, It's sick and wrong no matter how you look at it. Freeks need not to respond to my post, every one else, have a great week.
Techman-2999909, you're an idiot, and what you don't understand about the human race could fill twenty warehouses. Seek help soon. Please!
EK
That is the pot calling the kettle black you are such a moron!
The concept of "Marriage" was "the joining of two to become one" or in simple terms, "procreation".
Marriage is a concept that our "ancient ancestors" instituted for procreation. For civilization to continue, it had to procreate, and even back then, in the most primitive times, they realized the best way the offspring to "thrive in a positive manner" was for one mother and one father raising the offspring. Not many mothers and many fathers intermingling to "procreate" and certainly not two of the same sex to procreate (since this is biologically impossible )
Bottom line, when you go against common sense, and mother nature, bad things happen.
Wrong. Marriage is about property and kinship rights, just like it's always been.
Procreation doesn't require marriage.
Not to mention that our ancient ancestors actually were really into polygamy, per the Bible. The one man one woman model was much less popular, at least in the Old Testament.
Procreation is not a requirement for marriage, or vice versa!
Parentage or biology does not guarantee one will "thrive in a positive manner". Thriving is based on nurturing.
Except homosecuality is in nature and it also confers benefits to a society.
I can't figure out why the wiener cleaners are picking on Porter when he commented a long time ago. I guess they can't stand the heat from current comments!
Wow, I cannot believe that France is letting the homophobic crazies take over. In 2013 no less! What a f-ing disgrace. My hat is off to President Hollande's anti-bigotry stance. I'll never understand how the hell these nutcases think that heteros hold some kind of moral high ground when it comes to marriage and children. Oh, is that why so many straight marriages end in divorce or why astonishing numbers of children that wind up getting sexually or physically abused or placed in foster care come from daddy-mommy homes, because heteros are always so morally correct?? Yeah, right!
wow, I cannot believe how liberal bigots dismiss anyone who disagrees with them as "nutcases" - but I guess thats what makes them bigots
Why don't all you butt bandits, turd burglars, fudge packers, weiner cleaners, peter puffers, dick smokers, lap lizards, carpet crunchers and any other gay/lesbo MFs just find an island where you can have your gay utopia and quit pushing your agenda on people that don't like it and think it is immoral? If it ever comes down to a war against the queers, the straights will win!
Sounds like you fantasize about sex with other men a lot.