French Assembly Passes Gay Marriage, Adoption Bill

The measure, approved in the National Assembly in a 329-to-229 vote, puts France on track to join about a dozen mostly European nations that allow gay marriage and comes despite a string of recent demonstrations by opponents of the so-called "marriage for all" bill.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/france-gay-marriage-adoption-bill-assembly-_n_2669974.html?utm_hp_ref=world&ir=World



• How many more fucking hoops does this have to go through for crying out loud?

• They're not "hoops", it's the normal process for all legislation. Unless you want to get rid of democratic processes and have rule by decree.

• [quote] Unless you want to get rid of democratic processes and have rule by decree. Personally, I believe that same-sex marriage and gar rights in general are human rights, and should not - like civil rights, equal rights for women etc. - be left to the voting masses, but rather an enlightened judiciary. That is why we have three centers of legislative power in the United States - I don't trust the "people" to be equal and fair. See Proposition 8 in California.

• The religious right is now holding out hope that this will be struck down by the constitutional courts. French president Hollande has recently lost one battle (over taxes) there so it’s not clear if the court will uphold same-sex marriage as constitutional.

• Maggie Gallagher is threatening to overdose on powdered sugar if this passes.

• R3, we're talking about France, which has a particular democratic legislative process. In the US, the central government and congress can't even propose or pass same-sex marriage. R4 that's the first I've heard of efforts to involve the constitutional court. In fact, in 2011 the French constitutional court rejected a challenge against the current ban on same-sex marriage because, it stated, it was not up to the court to decide this but it was the job of parliament, effectively inviting parliament to make the decision on this issue. The tax law was simple ideological crap rushed through by the French government. It was so shabbily put together that its unconstitutionality (taxing individuals as opposed to households) would have been glaringly obvious to them if they bothered to spend five minutes thinking about it.

• r6, I forgot about that court ruling. But yep, they are so vehement about this that they are willing to take it to the French constitutional court. They definitely will do whatever it takes to stop it.

• Then the court will pass the same judgement as it did in 2011 - that it's for parliament to decide.

• r8, only if they are consistent and not cravenly political.