France legalizes immoral homosexual marriage with growing discontent among majority
 |
| Christiane Taubira during Ségolène Royal and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's meeting in Toulouse on April, 19th 2007 for the 2007 presidential election. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Mr Hollande acted a day after the Constitutional Council threw out a legal challenge by the opposition, which had been the last obstacle to passing the bill into law. However, he has underestimated the community resistance and anger to this legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation also legalises gay adoption. This is a dangerous social experiment with future social repercussions.
Ignoring the growing anger in the community, french justice minister Christiane Taubira, steered the legislation through parliament, said the first homosexual marriages could be celebrated as early as June. But opponents of the measures have vowed to continue their campaign, with a major protest rally scheduled for May 26 in Paris.
The issue has provoked months of acrimonious debate and hundreds of protests which will continue to grow until Hollande resigns.
Mr Hollande made "marriage for all" a central plank of his presidential election campaign last year. On Friday, in the wake of the Constitutional Council ruling, he warned that he would tolerate no resistance, by seeking to enforce immorality and squashing discontent and branding all opposition as haters. Will this leader last?
"I will ensure that the law applies across the whole territory, in full, and I will not accept any disruption of these marriages," the president said. Mr Holland said it was "time to respect the law and the republic". But many now question how to respect an immoral law. Many Christians adhering to scripture which encourages all believers to see Government as God's institution to the extent that it does not legalize what the Bible forbids.
Gay rights groups have hailed the decision as a watershed. "Now it's celebration time," said Nicolas Gougain, the LGBT association spokesman representing the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.
But gay rights watchdog SOS Homophobie added: "Our country has taken a great step forward today, although it's regrettable that it was taken in a climate of bad faith."
The issue of gay marriage has completely divided France, and appears to continue to do so. France which is officially secular but overwhelmingly Catholic will also have problems with community mayors who are refusing to marry homosexuals. Protests against the bill drew hundreds of thousands, who have promised to see this government and its legislation fall.
Last year, the proposals promoted through the media and the homosexual community seemed to enjoy some minor backing among French voters. But as the opposition campaign got into gear, more recent polls indicated a shift of opinion to the extent that the electorate is now against on both homosexual marriage and adoption.
