As France's gay marriage law prepares
to take effect next week, a video surfaces showing how gay and
lesbian couples married with the help of Google+.
Hangouts are the social network's
teleconferencing feature. It allows up to 10 people in different
locations to participate in the video call simultaneously.
In the nearly three-minute video
released this week by the LGBT rights group Tous Unis Pour L'Egalite
(All United for Equality), we meet Jacques and Pierre.
The couple met in 1976 and have been
together nearly 40 years.
“We're not young anymore,” men say.
“We haven't got 20 years ahead of us and same-sex marriage is
still not legal [in France]. We don't want to deny anyone their
rights. We just want the same rights for everyone.”
The men are married in a Google+
hangout by a mayor from Belgium, where such unions have been legal
for a decade.
Other couples follow.
“In these debates we talk a lot about
equality. We talk a lot about liberty. But not enough about
brotherhood,” one of the grooms says. (The video is embedded on
this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
Gay couples are expected to begin
marrying under France's new law on Wednesday.