Paris:France's new Socialist government is to legalise marriage and adoption for same-sex couples, prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said yesterday, reflecting a shift in public attitudes in the majority Catholic nation.
President François Hollande, who took office last month, had pledged to legalise gay marriage and adoption during his election campaign but had given no time frame.
Since Mr Hollande’s Socialists won an absolute majority in parliamentary elections two weeks ago, the conservative UMP party, which had opposed the measure under former president Nicolas Sarkozy, can do little to stop it.
“The government has made it an objective for the next few months to work on implementing its campaign commitments on the fight against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity,” Mr Ayrault’s office said in a statement yesterday. – (Reuters)