18 May 2013

Le Mariage pour Tous validé en France

Le mariage pour tous — marriage equality, or "marriage for all" — became the law of the land in douce France this morning. The law, passed by the Assemblée Nationale and the Sénat a few weeks ago, was validated yesterday by France's Conseil Constitutionnel and signed into law (promulgué, meaning published in the Journal Officiel) by Président François Hollande today.


A lot of people are obviously very happy about this development. Président Hollande campaigned on a promise of mariage pour tous in 2012, when he defeated Nicolas Sarkozy to become the first Socialist elected president since François Mitterrand (1981-95). A lot of other people say they are unhappy, and there was a demonstration against the new law in Paris last night. Another is planned for May 26.

France is the 14th country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, and the ninth country in Europe*. According to reports, couples married in other countries will be able to have their marriages "transcribed" or recognized in France. It'll probably take a few months for the government to set up administrative systems to get all that ironed out, but the first same-sex marriages in France could be performed as early as next month.

* The other European countries that have instituted marriage equality are (from north to south) Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and Portugal.

13 comments:

  1. Great! It is about time!!!!!! Congratulations!!!!!!!!!Maryanne ;)

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  2. Wonderful news! Now you are married on two continents, or something like that. May all the world achieve this state of enlightenment, justice, righteousness.

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  3. Did the adoption measure pass too?

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  4. Good news! I wonder why Germany is not on the list yet?

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  5. Anton, yes.

    Evelyn, or Switzerland and Austria?

    Kristi, we are not yet married in France. La lutte continue.

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  6. France, welcome into the 21st century! Congratulations!

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  7. I thought of you when I heard it on the news this morning.
    It's good news indeed, I'm glad it's finally happened.

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  8. This is remarkable and great. Remarkable, to me, because it is amazing to see something an incoming president promises to accomplish, actually accomplished... and so quickly, really! I'm thrilled.

    I think that Walt said something about marriages being recognized in France if they are from a COUNTRY that has legalized "mariage pour tous", so does that mean complications for you two (since only certain states, and not the whole country, recognize your marriage)? Or can you just get married again over there? Or will even a marriage there only be recognized for citizens of France?

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  9. Thanks, Nadège. And Jean, it really does matter to us, for things like inheritance rights, among others. And just because it seems like the right thing to do for people like Walt and me.

    Judy, we'll need to give things a few more months and see what our next steps are. As I just mentioned, we want our marriage to be recognized for inheritance purposes. Married couples can inherit from each other automatically, but not unmarried couples, who have to pay a huge tax on any property or money they inherit from another person.

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  10. Happy to report that the state of Minnesota just this week became the 12th state to legalize same sex marriage. Can't wait until this isn't news anymore - just the way of the world.
    Barb in Minnesota

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  11. I'm late with my response, but I rejoiced when I heard this. Can't wait for the U.S. to catch up--I guess it'll have to be state by state, and we're making steady progress there.

    Hope you and Walt get married in France, too. One can't have too many celebrations of a great relationship!

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