France Expected to Approve Marriage Equality Today in Final Vote: VIDEO

The French National Assembly is set to give its final approval today on marriage equality:

The bill, which would also give same-sex couples the right to adopt, was approved in the Senate earlier this month.
Since no amendments have been made during debate in the lower house, it will be the final vote on the legislation. The measure is expected to pass.

The left, which includes President Francois Hollande's governing Socialist Party, dominates the National Assembly, where the bill was approved by a large majority in February on its first reading.

Hollande will have to sign the bill before it becomes law.

More anti-gay rallies are expected after the vote today. As you know, there has been much violence associated with the opposition.

Security is tight:

Police say legions of officers and a small battery of water cannons were at France's National Assembly on Tuesday to prevent a repeat of previous street violence. A spokesman for the police union UNSA, Christophe Crepin, said the extraordinary security was in place to protect the city's gay community.

Here's video of a rally that took place last week in Toulouse in southern France in which a group called Hommen Toulouse demonstrated in the city's Charles de Gaulle Sqare where they burned the letters of the word democracy, gave speeches, and stood shirtless and gagged, with anti-gay messages on their bodies.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Gay Man Beaten Unconscious In Nice, France

Another anti-gay attack in France left a young man bleeding and unconscious in the south of France, the Local reports:

A gay couple were attacked as they left a night club in the Mediterranean city of Nice at the weekend in the latest apparent homophobic attack in France. Raphaël Leclerc was punched and kicked after being jumped by three men when they left a club at around 5am on Saturday.

The incident comes just two weeks after Wilfred de Bruijn was savagely beaten in the 19th arrondissement of Paris, earlier this month after he and his boyfriend were attacked in the street. Last week, amid increased tensions over France’s divisive gay marriage bill that is set to be passed into law on Tuesday, there were attacks on gay bars in the northern city of Lille and Bordeaux in the south west.

Gay rights groups have told The Local they have recorded a 30 percent rise in homophobic incidents in recent months, which they blame on the continued opposition to the gay marriage bill.

Letter Containing Gunpowder and Gay Marriage Threat Sent to Head of French Parliament

The head of French parliament is being terrorized over the coming gay marriage vote on Tuesday, The Local reports:

Claude Bartolone, the Socialist president of France’s Assemblée Nationale (lower house of parliament) on Monday received a threatening letter containing gunpowder and demanding he defer a parliamentary vote, expected to definitively legalize gay marriage on Tuesday.

The one-page letter, signed by “an intermediary of law enforcement,” warns Bartolone that “our methods are more radical and more swift than protests”, according to French magazine L’Express.

The document concludes with the statement “You wanted war, and you’ve got it.”

Protesters Crowd Streets of Paris Ahead of Final French Vote on Marriage Equality: VIDEO

Anti-gay protesters crowded the streets of Paris today ahead of a French parliament vote on Tuesday in which it is expected to adopt marriage equality, Deutsche Welle reports:

Protest organizers said between 30,000 and 50,000 people took part in the demonstration in the Montparnasse area of Paris on Sunday. A rival protest in support of the legislation was also held on Sunday but gathered fewer participants.

Two thousand security officers were on hand to ensure the throngs remained peaceful after demonstrations earlier in the week led to a bit of violence.

Protests were held three nights running, from Wednesday to Friday, and some of the hard-core opponents clashed with police. More than 100 arrests were made throughout the week.

Watch a Euronews report, AFTER THE JUMP...

AFP adds:

In a series of guerrilla actions, activists opposed to the bill have staged dawn protests outside ministers’ homes, vandalised cars, assaulted journalists and even blocked a fast train carrying a prominent gay marriage campaigner. One Socialist MP received death threats, and there are reports that two attacks on gay bars, one in Bordeaux and the other in Lille, were linked to rising anti-gay sentiment fed by the protests. So why the explosive outrage in the land of liberty, fraternity and equality?

Some argue that it is simply part of a wider backlash against what is seen as a corrupt, incompetent political class, prompted by Mr Hollande’s inability to tackle unemployment and the discovery that the government’s tax tsar had a secret Swiss bank account.

But the French Right has seized on the gay marriage issue to rally its demoralised electorate. Given the mess that Mr Hollande’s Socialist administration is making of the economy, Right wingers argue, the Left has no right to legislate on moral issues as well.

A Gay Frenchman's Gorgeous Message to Homophobes About Marriage: VIDEO

 Mike Fédée has a message to French people afraid of same-sex marriage: Fear Not.

Turn on the English subtitles by pressing CC on the video.

Watch, AFTER THE JUMP...

Gay Bar Attacked Amid Marriage-Related Homophobic Violence in France: VIDEO

Three employees of a gay bar in the northern city of Lille, France were attacked and assaulted by four men who broke the bar's windows, The Local reports:

  The bar's owner linked the incident to "tensions" surrounding the parliament vote.

"I was hit by a chair," thrown through the window, he told AFP. Police later detained the suspects.

Watch a French news report on the gay bar attack, AFTER THE JUMP...

Meanwhile, homophobic violence conbtinued elsewhere in France on Wednesday, The Local adds:

Several thousand opponents to the bill crammed the streets of Paris on Wednesday, waving banners that read "A father, a mother, it's basic" or criticised French President Francois Hollande. Interior Minister Manuel Valls condemned acts of violence during the protests "in spite of promises made by the organisers". Several people were detained for questioning after cars and public property were damaged and police officers and journalists attacked, said Valls. Police put the number of detentions at 11.

Organisers put the number of demonstrators at 8,000 while police said 2,400 people had protested. Twenty-four people who took part in a counter-protest denouncing homophobia were arrested, police said.

The day before, some 2,700 opponents had gathered in Versailles outside the capital to protest the bill, leading to scuffles with police.

Opponents have vowed new mass demonstrations in the next week.

Watch a French news report on the gay bar attack, AFTER THE JUMP...