Hundreds of thousands of people are
gathering in Paris on Sunday to oppose the French government's plans
to legalize gay marriage.
The Socialist government of Francois
Hollande in November 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 later this
month, and a vote could come by mid-2013.
Starting from three different points in
the city, the demonstrators will converge at the Eiffel Tower in what
is expected to be largest demonstration in the city in a decade.
Police are expecting about 300,000 to
take part in the “Demo for All,” a take-off on the government's
plans to introduce “marriage for all.”
The protest's leader, comedian Frigide
Barjot, told France24 that opposing such unions is not anti-gay but
pro-family.
“We're all born of a man and a woman,
but the law will say the opposite tomorrow,” Barjot is quoted by
Reuters as telling reporters. “It will say a child is born of a
man and a man.”