The French Senate on Friday approved a
bill which seeks to legalize marriage and adoption for gay and
lesbian couples.
Lawmakers voted with a show of hands.
The legislation now heads back to the
lower house, the National Assembly, to reconcile changes made to the
bill in the Senate. Those changes are considered minor.
“This law will allow gay people to no
longer be clandestine in their families and in the Republic,”
Family Minister Dominique Bertinotti told colleagues in the Senate.
The move comes a day after the Uruguay
parliament approved a similar bill.
(Related: Uruguay
parliament approves gay marriage bill.)
Even though the bill is now certain to
become law, opponents are planning another protest march next month.
The fight against “marriage for all”
has been waged mostly on the streets of Paris. The heated rhetoric
of opponents is being blamed for a spike in homophobic acts, both
physical and verbal.
“We expected opposition, but not to
that extent,” said Dominique Boren, vice president of the
Association of Gay and Lesbian Parents. “We've heard things about
homosexuals we hadn't heard in over 30 years.”
(Related: Wilfred
de Bruijn: Marriage debate has increased anti-gay sentiment in
France.)