France legalizes gay marriage

PARIS — France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President Francois Hollande signed a law on Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.

Hollande’s office said he signed the bill Saturday morning, a day after the Constitutional Council struck down a challenge to the law and ruled it in line with France’s constitution.

Hollande, a Socialist, had made legalizing gay marriage one of his campaign pledges last year. While polls for years have shown majority support for gay marriage in France, adoption by same-sex couples is more controversial.

The parliamentary debate exposed a deep conservatism and attachment to traditional families in France’s rural core that is often eclipsed by and at odds with libertine Paris.

But mostly, it tapped into deep discontent with the Socialist government, largely over Hollande’s handling of the economy.

Months of anti-gay marriage protests became a flashpoint for frustrations with Hollande, and occasionally degenerated into violence.

In addition, gay rights groups reported a rise in attacks on homosexuals as the parliamentary debate was under way. Protest organizers distanced themselves from the trouble-makers.

The opposition isn’t ready to give up. It plans a protest May 26 that aims to parlay the success of the anti-gay marriage movement into a broader anti-Hollande one. (AP)