The French parliament have voted today to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill was passed 331-225, and it is thought weddings could begin as early as June.
The vote was almost a foregone conclusion given that parliament has a Socialist majority, who along with their allies the Green party, had been pushing for the bill. President Hollande made same-sex marriage a key manifesto promise in last year’s election.
However, the nation is deeply divided over the bill, with mass rallies in Paris over the last few weeks. The protests are expected to continue, as they seek to convince President Hollande not to sign the bill into law, or to remove the part of it, which currently will see gay couples given the right to adopt.
The leader of the right leaning party UMP has promised another large scale demonstration in Paris on May 26th, with UMP leader Jean-François Copé wanting to send a “message of very strong disapproval to the government.”
This morning, before the vote it was reported that, Claude Bartolone, president of the lower house, received a package containing gunpowder and a note saying, “Citizen Bartolone, with this letter we formally ask you to delay the vote on same-sex marriage…Our methods are more radical and direct than demonstrations. You wanted war, you’ve got it.” The message was sent by the group calling themselves Interaction of the Forces of Order.