Controversy Over France’s First Gay Wedding

The mayor of the southwestern French town of Begles near Bordeaux plans on defying Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin and moving ahead with France’s first gay wedding. The ceremony won’t be official recognized, but it will set off a storm of controversy nonetheless.

Netscape News reports:

Begles mayor Noele Mamere has been accompanied by two personal body guards for the past month because of threats against him. He shrugged off Raffarin's warning that officials who perform gay weddings would be breaking the law. "I will go ahead with this marriage," said Mamere, a Green Party member of parliament who says violating the law is sometimes the only way to change it.

Sounds eerily American - though it’s a bit ironic that at least some Americas have gotten the right to gay marriages before the French. Gays already have the option of civil unions, but those don’t have the same legal benefits as do traditional marriages.

Read More:

• Gay Rights, Gay Marriage
• Guide to Ethics and Morality