French Justice Minister says homosexual unions “against the law”

Paris, France, Apr 28, 2004 / 22:00 pm

France’s Justice Minister, Dominique Perben, said this week the “marriage” between two homosexuals, which Green party member of parliament and mayor of Begles, Noel Mamere has said he will officiate on June 5, “is against the law.”

“There is nothing ambiguous about this answer: that marriage will be purely and simply null,” Perben said an interview published by Le Figaro.

Mamere argued that French Civil Code, which was established 200 years ago, does not specify that spouses should be of the opposite sex.  But Perben said “to argue sexual differences between spouses are not written into the civil code is a lie.”

Perben cited a Supreme Court decision and a phrase from the Civil Code itself which specifies that the person who officiates a marriage “must receive a declaration from each party that they wish to take each other as man and wife.”

Perben warned that Mamere, a well-known Green party presidential candidate in 2002, “could face sanctions” if he persists in his intention to officiate at the homosexual union, the first in the history of France.  “The Attorney General’s office has not decided whether it will take action before or after the act,” Perben explained.

France allows for civil unions between gays, but not marriage.