Nearly 15,000 French mayors will refuse to marry gay couples

Paris, France, Apr 19, 2013 / 15:12 pm

A group of at least 14,900 French mayors has said it will not perform "gay marriages," even if the government moves ahead with plans to legalize the practice.

The administration of French President Francois Hollande has put forth a measure that would legalize "gay marriage," allow gay couples to receive medical treatment for artificial procreation and to adopt children.

"It is foolish to think that the mobilization of the elected mayors would stop if the law is passed," said Franck Meyer, spokesman for the association Mayors for Children.

"As citizens, we elected officials will not give up," he emphasized in statements to the media.

Meyer, who is mayor of Sotteville-sous-le-Val in northern France, observed that some of the mayors in the group have said they "would resign if the law is adopted," while others "have said they will refuse" to perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.

On April 12, the French Senate passed the measure sponsored by President Hollande, but it has yet to go before the French National Assembly.

The Senate adopted the measure despite massive opposition from the public, including a demonstration attended by an estimated one million French citizens through the streets of Paris calling for the measure to be voted down.

Nathalie de Williencourt, a French lesbian and founder of one of the largest homosexual associations in France, said in January that most homosexual individuals in the country do not want "gay marriage" or the right to adopt children.

"I am French, I am homosexual. The majority of homosexuals do not want either marriage or adoption, and we especially don't want to be treated the same as heterosexuals because we are different," she said. "We don't want equality but we do want justice."