Advertisement

7,000 gay couples tie the knot in France

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
7,000 gay couples tie the knot in France
7,000 gay couples have tied the knot in France since same-sex unions became legal. Photo: Denis Charlet/AFP

Thousands of gay-couples have tied the knot in France since the same-sex unions became legal in May last year, new figures show. Since May 2012 7,000 gay couples were wed - around three percent of the total number of marriages in France.

Advertisement

About 7,000 same-sex couples tied the knot in France last year after gay marriage was legalized in May, the national statistics agency said on Tuesday.

France legalised same-sex marriage after months of intense and sometimes violent protests, in keeping with an election pledge by Socialist President Francois Hollande, who faced a huge backlash from the opposition right and the powerful Catholic Church.

Same-sex unions made up around three percent of the total number of 238,000 marriages registered in France in 2013, the Insee statistics agency said.

Three out of every five gay marriages involved male couples, it said. The average age at which male gay men got married was 50, while it was 43 for women. The corresponding average age for heterosexual couples was 37 and 34.

The first gay marriage in France was held on May 29 in the southern city of Montpellier, which has a gay-friendly reputation. But many die-hard conservatives have continued to oppose the measure.

Some mayors argue that the lack of an option not to perform gay marriages violates the French constitution, which stipulates that freedom of conscience is a fundamental human right.

Several have refused to conduct gay marriages on the grounds it goes against their beliefs, but the Constitutional Council, France's top court, has ruled they cannot do this.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also