The French Cabinet yesterday put its final stamp on a piece of draft legislation to legalize same-sex marriage there. The New York Times reports:
The draft law redefines marriage to stipulate that it is “contracted
between two persons of different sex or of the same sex,” and the words
“father” and “mother” in existing legislation are replaced by “parents.”
The bill would also allow married gay couples to adopt children.Christiane Taubira, the justice minister, told the conservative
newspaper La Croix that "marriage for all," as the government calls it,
was a response to "a demand for equality."
The most controversial issue remains adoption. Only married people in France can adopt, and while over half of French people believe same-sex couples should be able to tie the knot, far less think they should be able to raise children, a belief that manifests itself in bizarre interpretive bird dance rituals.
That said, it may be a while before this bill becomes a law.