(Thousands of demonstrators march in Paris, to protest France’s planned legalisation of same-sex marriage, January 13, 2013 .The banner reads ” Long live the parity in the marriage, one mother, one father it is elementary” REUTERS/Charles Platiau)
A huge weekend protest against the legalisation of same-sex marriage and adoption has not dented the French government’s determination to pass the planned reform into law soon, leading cabinet ministers said on Monday.
In one of the largest protests in decades, roughly half a million people marched through Paris on Sunday demanding that President Francois Hollande withdraw the reform bill and hold a national debate before any change in the definition of marriage.
Many protesters told journalists the government’s drive to push through the reform, especially the adoption rights for gays that a slight majority of French reject, and its refusal to hold a wider debate helped bring out the crowds on a cold winter day.
Government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, who is also women’s affairs minister, said nothing had changed. The plan to submit the reform bill in parliament late this month and pass it by June would go ahead undisturbed, she told Europe 1 radio.
