France's gay marriage ban constitutional, experts rules

Fri, 28 Jan 2011

Paris - France's Constitutional Council on Friday declared that the country's ban on gay marriage did not infringe the constitution.

The 9-member council, the top authority on constitutional questions, was asked to weigh in on the matter by a lesbian couple looking to get married to put their four children on a sounder legal footing.

In its judgment the Council declared that French law's definition of marriage as "the union of a man and a woman" was "in conformity with the constitution."

Any change in the legislation would have to be initiated by parliament, they said.

The couple who took the matter to the Council is in a partnership contract or PACS - a union introduced in 1999 with gays and lesbians in mind but which has now also become popular among homosexuals.

Unlike Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and a number of other countries, traditional weddings are still reserved for heterosexuals.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/364691,ban-constitutional-experts-rules.html.