‘France’s gay marriage law should be scrapped’
PARIS: FormerFrenchpresident Nicolas Sarkozy, who has embarkedonapoliticalcomeback, on Saturday said France’s gay marriagelawshouldbescrapped, in his strongest comment yet on the controversial issue.
Sarkozy was pushed to take a firm stand when he spoke at an event in Paris for the three candidates vying to lead the centre-right UMP party into the 2017 presidential election.
The same-sex marriage law, which came into force in May 2013 and also legalises gay adoption, “should be rewritten fromthegroundup,”Sarkozytold audience members at the debate organised by Common Sense, a conservative movement within the main opposition UMP.
His words were met with jeers and chants of ‘Repeal! Repeal!’, prompting the former president to add: “If you prefer that I say repeal the law ... it comes down to the same thing.” After he was electedin2007Sarkozypromised gay voters he would introduce civil unions, but nothing came of it during his term.
He has in the past called for the contentious gay marriage law, whichsparkedhugestreetprotests inFrance,tobe‘rewritten’buthe has never before stated outright that he would want to cancel it.
Sarkozy’sopponentsintherace to head the UMP also touched on the issue at the event attended by some 3,000 UMP supporters, according to organisers. — AFP