The re-engineering of French society by the ruling Socialist Party hits a speed bump.<\/p>\n

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“Yes to the family, no to homo-folly”<\/p><\/div>\n

Thousands march against same-sex marriage bill<\/h1>\n

Source: France 24<\/a><\/p>\n

Opponents of a bill that would open up civil marriages and adoption to same-sex couples in France marched in the country\u2019s main cities on Saturday to protest what they call a \u201cmajor and dangerous upheaval\u201d.<\/p>\n

Protesters took to the streets of Rennes, Nantes, Dijon, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille and Toulouse to participate in the so-called \u201cDemonstration for All\u201d rally organized by conservative Catholic groups and which counted on the support of right-wing parties.<\/p>\n

Their stated goal was to persuade French lawmakers to abandon plans to pass the new law called \u201cMarriage and Adoption for All\u201d, which is being championed by France\u2019s ruling Socialist Party.<\/a><\/p>\n

In Paris thousands of people gathered in the Denfert-Rochereau square, many brandishing signs that read \u201cone mom and one dad for one child\u201d. The crowds largely respected requests by organisers to wear blue, white and pink clothes and abstain from brandishing the names or colours of their own organizations or political parties.<\/p>\n

Organisers said there was between 15,000 and 20,000 people at the protest in the French capital.<\/p>\n

Marc, a 60-year-old Parisian who said he was a fervent Catholic, called the government hypocritical. \u201cThey all have wives and children. So they understand perfectly well what kind of deviations would result from the approval of gay marriages.\u201d<\/p>\n

He was holding a sign that read \u201cNo to genitally modified marriage\u201d.<\/p>\n

Despite an overcast sky and heckles from pro-gay marriage activists, there was a lively atmosphere throughout the march, with many young people present.<\/p>\n

Students Victoria, Dauphine, El\u00e9onore, Flore and Marie were five friends volunteering at the event together. \u201cWe defend our vision of what society should be like. Our first concern is the child\u2019s well being and balance,\u201d said Flora. \u201cIf the law passes, it would be z deep injustice to the child, who is not given a choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gay rights activists and supporters of the government\u2019s initiative also staged counter-rallies in the French capital. Around 100 people in favour of gay marriage met the rally at its starting point in southern Paris.<\/p>\n

Mathias, a student from Paris in favour of gay marriage, debated the issue with anti-gay marriage participants on the sidelines of the march. Making little progress in convincing protesters, Mathias and a friend provocatively proceeded to lock lips.<\/p>\n

Alice Coffin, a 34-year-old gay rights activist, greeted protesters with a sign that read \u201cHomophobes, we are not interested in your opinion, only the same rights as you.\u201d She and a group of around 50 people threw confetti and rice \u2013used for its link to weddings\u2013 when the march passed near the Montparnasse train station.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the government is firm on this law,\u201d Coffin said, adding she did not think the anti-gay marriage march would change the government\u2019s course. \u201cBut the fight is not over yet and it\u2019s important to be out here today.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The re-engineering of French society by the ruling Socialist Party hits a speed bump. Thousands march against same-sex marriage bill Source: France 24 Opponents of a bill that would open up civil marriages and adoption to same-sex couples in France marched in the country\u2019s main cities on Saturday to protest what they call a \u201cmajor […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12391,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1784],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12386"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12386"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12395,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12386\/revisions\/12395"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12391"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12386"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aoiusa.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}