A controversial group on Sunday clashed
with demonstrators in Paris opposed to France's plan to legalize gay
marriage.
The Socialist government of Francois
Hollande earlier this month sent a proposed plan to legalize marriage
and adoption for gay couples to lawmakers for debate. The National
Assembly is expected to start examining the legislation in January,
and a vote could come by mid-2013.
Female members of the Ukranian group
Femen – topless and chanting “in gay we trust” – turned up at
the Catholic group Civitas' march protesting the marriage reform.
Femen activists' counter-protest
included spraying demonstrators with white powder from bottles. Some
media described the substance as “powdered sperm.”
The incident, which escalated into
violence leading to 5 arrests, came a day after tens of thousands of
demonstrators took to the streets of Paris, Lyon, Marseille and other
major towns and cities in protests supported by the Roman Catholic
Church. Police estimated 70,000 people took part in the Paris
demonstration. Organizers put the figure at 200,000.
(Related: Pope
Benedict XVI calls on the French Church to fight gay marriage.)