Thousands of activists are marching
through the streets of Paris on Sunday in a show of support for the
government's plans to make France the 12th and most
influential nation so far to legalize gay marriage.
Demonstrators carried banners with
phrases such as “Equality of rights is not a threat” as they
kicked off their march from Denfert-Rochereau square.
The rally comes two weeks after
opponents staged a huge protest in Paris and two days before
parliament takes up the issue.
Nicolas Gougain of the Inter-LGBT
association told FRANCE
24 that supporters were not “in competition” with opponents.
“We're not demonstrating in response
to our opposition,” he said. “We've been demonstrating for 10
years already.”
Strong opposition to the proposed
reform appears to have taken the government by surprise.
However, a new poll shows opponents
making little headway in changing public opinion. The survey
conducted for the news website Atlantico.fr
found 63 percent of respondents support marriage equality, up 3
percent from the start of the year. Support for adoption rights for
gay couples also rose three points, from 46 to 49 percent.
“Following the demonstration on
January 13 we expected less people to back [the reform],” Jerome
Fourquet of the polling agency Ifop said. “But our findings show
the opposite. Support for the plan is increasing – particularly on
the Left.”