Chirac gay
Liberté, Égalité, Homosexualité
France exists in the American imagination mostly in caricatured form. On matters of sex, in particular, the French are mind of as organism ahead of the curve, transcending the bounds of traditional morality-a perception distributed by American progressives, who admire them for being liberated, and by conservatives, who consider them amoral libertines.
It may therefore come as a surprise that on matters of gay marriage and the full legal recognition of queer couples, France has lagged behind both the United States, where nine states recognize same-sex marriage, and a number of other European countries. But this is about to change: A several days ago, the French cabinet approved a draft bill on the legalization of gay marriage and adoption in accordance with the pre-election pledges of socialist president François Hollande. If passed, the bill, which is due for debate in parliament in late January, will make France the ninth state in Europe and the seventh in the European Union to recognize same-sex attracted marriage.
In fantastic part, the relative delay has to do with the balance of political power in the country over the last decade. Between 2002 and 2012, conservative
Paris unveils a memorial to LGBTQ victims of Nazi regime and other persecutions
A memorial to the long-ignored gay victims of the Nazi regime and to all LGBTQ people persecuted throughout history has been unveiled in Paris on Saturday.
The monument, a massive steel actor designed by French designer Jean-Luc Verna, is located at the heart of Paris, in public gardens close to the Bastille Plaza. It aims to fulfill a duty to remember and to struggle discrimination, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said.
“Historical recognition means saying ‘this happened’ and ‘we don’t want it to happen again,’” Hidalgo said.
Describing the sculpture that looks like a huge star wand lying on the ground, Verna, a visual artist who also is a LGBTQ rights activist, said: “There’s a black side in front of us, forcing us to remember. ... At certain times of the day, it casts a long shadow on the ground, evoking the dangers looming over, sadly.”
The other side of the actor, silvery, reflects the sky. It represents “the shade of time passing, with the Paris sky moving as quickly as common opinion, which can adjust at any moment,” Verna said.
Historians estimate between 5,000 and 15,000 people were deported througho
Court annuls France's first lgbtq+ marriage
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-28 08:40
A French court annulled France's first gay marriage on Tuesday, setting a legal precedent for outlawing same-sex marriages that came down on the side of the conservative government.
The government had already declared the marriage invalid and suspended the mayor who conducted it on June 5 in the Bordeaux suburb of Begles. The court ruling was a blow for contradiction politicians who want to make gay marriages legal.
Chapin, a 33-year-old home care worker, and Charpentier, a 31-year-old shop worker, said they would appeal against the decree and take their battle to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
"We will battle to the end, as we said two months ago, but we will win because we own faith in our country," Charpentier said outside the court.
The couple's lawyer, Emmanuel Pierrat, said the court had based its ruling on the argument that marriage is traditionally considered the foundation of t
A FRENCH mayor yesterday rejected as “hot air” orders from the Government to abandon a prepare to conduct France’s first homosexual marriage tomorrow.
The defiance of Noël Mamère, Mayor of the Toulouse suburb of Bègles, intensified a row between the centre-right Government and traditionalists and social reformers and homosexual rights activists.
M Mamère, a former Green Party head and presidential candidate, aims to power social change by using his mayoral powers to wed Jean-Luc Charpentier and Stéphane Chapin, two local residents. Nothing in French rule says wedlock must be limited to men and women, says M Mamère.
Yesterday he received unexpected backing from Jean-Marie Le Quill, the traditionalist, pro-Catholic leader of the far right National Front.
President Chirac has condemned the plan and Jean-Pierre Raffarin, the Prime Minister, warned M Mamère that he would face prosecution if he went ahead.
France’s civil code “neither permits nor authorises the marriage of two people of the same sex”, M Raffarin told Parliament. “If such a ceremony takes place, it cannot be called a marriage. It would be an illegal ceremony, null and void under the law,” he said.
M Mamère said that t
Islam prohibits homosexuality and, though not referred to explicitly in the Egyptian penal code, a wide range of laws covering obscenity, prostitution and debauchery are applied to homosexuals.
This zero tolerance has influenced human rights organisations in Egypt, which defend the rights of women, minority Coptic Christians and prisoners, but say Egyptians will not stand for gay rights.
"What could we do? Nothing. If we were to uphold this issue, this would be the end of what remains of the notion of human rights in Egypt," said Hisham Kassem, director of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights.
"We let them [homosexuals] down, but I don't have a mandate from the people, and I don't want the West to set the pace for the human rights movement in Egypt," Mr Kassem said.
Global criticism
International human rights groups have accused the Egyptian Government of trying to silence local groups by limiting their foreign funding - their only real source of revenue - and arresting rights activists.
Last year in Cairo, 52 men were tried on charges of immoral beh