Some 150,000 people hit the streets of Paris on Sunday to protest a law that legalizes same-sex marriage in France. The mass demonstration comes just days before the first ceremony is scheduled to take place.
The Guardian reports that police “evicted” about a dozen activists who climbed to the roof the Socialist party headquarters to unfurl a banner urging President François Hollande to resign.
The paper adds:
“The new law – the key social reform of the Socialist president, François Hollande – was officially adopted last week, making France the 14th country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage. The first wedding will take place between two gay activists in Montpellier on Wednesday.
“But the reform has sparked months of bitter political debate and the biggest rightwing street demonstrations in decades, including hundreds of arrests after clashes between police and demonstrators in the runup to the parliamentary vote. Rights groups have recorded a sharp increase in homophobic acts across France.”
Reuters reports that polls show just a little more than half of French people support the new law, which also allows for gay adoption, but “more than 70 percent believe the protests should now stop.”
The French paper Le Monde put together a video of what it looked and sounded like in Paris today:
9(MDA3MTA1NDEyMDEyOTkyNTU3NzQ2ZGYwZg001))