Posted on 11/10/2012 8:45:10 PM PST by SeekAndFind
France is next in line to legalize same-sex marriage, according to a disputed bill pushed by President Francois Hollande on Wednesday, which would defy opposition from the country's Roman Catholic and conservative leadership.
Currently, less than a dozen countries in the world have legalized gay marriage, although most of them are in Europe. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Iceland and Belgium have all moved away from the traditional definition of marriage between one man and one woman, and with Hollande's bill, France is set to join them early next year.
The top ministers in France have already approved the measure, marking another successful agenda for Hollande's liberal campaign, The New York Times reported. The president has called the bill "progress for all society."
The new law will redefine marriage as "contracted between two persons of different sex or of the same sex," while the words for "father" and "mother" in French will be replaced by "parents" allowing them also to start adopting children.
Christiane Taubira, France's justice minister, has also described the bill as "marriage for all" and has said that it comes as response to a "demand for equality." While supported by the majority of the French population, it stands in stark contrast to the wishes of the conservative opposition in France, who have warned that such a breakaway from traditional values will signal the end of the traditional family unit.
"It's the end of the family, the end of children's development, the end of education. It's an enormous danger to the nation," said UMP Senator Serge Dassault on the radio show "France Culture."
Although France has felt a move toward secularism in recent years, the dominant religious voice there remains the Roman Catholic Church which is also very much opposed to such changes. Cardinal André Vingt-Trois, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Paris, has called the bill a "deception," and has questioned how "the marriage of a few imposed on everyone" means that France is working toward equality.
"When we defend the right of children to build their personality with reference to the man and the woman who gave them life, we are not defending a particular position," the cardinal said.
Gilles Bernheim, the chief rabbi of France, added: "There would not be courage and no glory in voting a law by using slogans more than arguments and by complying to the dominant political correctness."
The far left fringe hopes that they can redefine marriage and still keep the positive connotations of that word. I imagine that will work for liberals about as well as manipulating economics did.
It is what we do to our children that makes God the angriest. We’re gifted these little souls and we willfully turn them over to the state, liberals and the mentally ill. This is heartrending.
The economies of the world collapse, they go Saddam and Gomorrah and then the whole thing has what happen to it?
Europe is having a Grand Prix race between economic and moral collapse.
Grab the popcorn.
This is news? I’ve seen King Louiy’s furniture?
Ha! Ha! So true!
I’m surprised that film has not been criminalized as “hate speech” yet.
“Homosexuality and pedophilia among muslims is so rampant”
But in some Muslim countries they hang or behead several homosexuals a year. Our press has stopped reporting on it, or has cut back, but it was quite an issue two years ago and has not stopped.
17 No matter how many governments legalize it its still a joke.
23 The far left fringe hopes that they can redefine marriage and still keep the positive connotations of that word. I imagine that will work for liberals about as well as manipulating economics did.
25 The economies of the world collapse, they go Saddam and Gomorrah and then the whole thing has what happen to it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage#Brazil
1 Netherlands 2001
2 Belgium 2003
3 Canada 2005
4 Spain 2005
5 South Africa 2006
6 Norway 2009
7 Sweden 2009
8 Portugal 2010
9 Iceland 2010
10 Argentina 2010
11 Iceland 2010
12 Denmark 2012
13 Finland 2013
14 France 2013
15 New Zealand 2013
16 United Kingdom 2013
Every TV station in the world could air midget wrestling twice a day and it would still be a joke.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.