France unmoved by gay marriage protests
2013-01-14 12:00
Paris - France's ruling Socialists refused to back down on Monday, a day
after hundreds of thousands marched against plans to legalise gay marriage and
adoption, and as opposition politicians stepped up calls for a referendum on
the issue.
Despite the massive turn-out in Paris – 800 000 according to organisers, 340
000 according to police - a statement from President Francois Hollande's Elysee
Palace after the rally made it clear he would press ahead with the reforms.
The government plans to put the proposed legislation to parliament on 29
January.
"This is a bill that strictly takes nothing away from anyone, which
does not do away with the words 'father' and 'mother'...," Justice
Minister Christiane Taubira told French television channel TF1 Sunday.
Once again, she ruled out a referendum on the issue, which she argued would
in any case be unconstitutional.
But Christian Jacob, head of the centre-right opposition UMP party's
parliamentary group, insisted a referendum was perfectly feasible.
"The President of the Republic can at any time decide to submit a
question to referendum: I don't think there is any appeal against that,"
he argued on Sunday.
'Test' for presidency
UMP leader Jean-Francois Cope meanwhile announced a special convention on
the issue of the family for 24 January, at which the issue of gay marriage
would be discussed.
"This is an important test for Francois Hollande because you can see
very clearly that there are millions of French people who are very concerned
about this reform," he said.
Cope was among those who took part in Sunday's protest, along with many
other senior UMP figures.
Opponents of the bill had travelled from all over France for a demonstration
supported by the centre-right opposition, the Catholic Church and France's
five-million-strong Muslim community.
Neither the government's apparent determination nor the grim winter weather
appeared to dampen the spirits of the protestors. Giant marches converged near
the Eiffel Tower having set off from three different starting points.
Many of the protestors were accompanied by children, some of whom brandished
placards exclaiming: "Born of a man and a woman."
Jacques Julien, 70, who had travelled from the Haute Loire region of central
France, said he had voted for Hollande but disagreed with the Socialist
president's approach.
"A man and a woman, that is the basis of the family," he said.
"I'm saying out loud what many people on the left think privately."
Majority
Despite months of well-attended protests however, opinion polls have shown
consistently that most voters support the right of homosexual couples to marry,
while a narrower majority favour granting them adoption rights.
Monday's newspapers acknowledged the strength of the protest, even if they
differed on how effective it would be.
"The Tidal Wave", read the headline on the front-page lead in the
conservative daily Le Figaro. Describing Sunday's protest as "the biggest
demonstration in Paris for 30 years" it expressed satisfaction that the
right seemed to be rallying behind the call for a referendum on the issue.
Other dailies however, including Le Parisien and the freesheet 20 Minutes,
pointed out that however impressive the rally, the government showed no sign of
flinching.
