BOSNIA: A French mayor defied Prime Minister Mr Jean-Pierre Raffarin yesterday by vowing to press ahead with France's first gay wedding, stoking a controversy which is set to rage on after the couple say "I do".
The two men who plan to wed today in the south-western town of Begles, near Bordeaux, have gone into hiding from the media. Conservatives and gay lobby groups plan protests and extra police have been drafted in to the area.
The Mayor of Begles, Mr Noele Mamere, has been accompanied by two personal bodyguards for the past month because of threats against him. He shrugged off Mr Raffarin's warning that officials who perform gay weddings would be breaking the law.
"I will go ahead with this marriage," said the mayor, a Green member of parliament who says violating the law is sometimes the only way to change it. "Afterwards, it's up to the public prosecutor to go to court if he wants to annul the marriage." He added that he would lodge an appeal if the wedding between Bertrand Charpentier and Stephane Chapin was annulled and would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.
"These two men, whom I have moved away from the media glare to stop them from being crushed, are currently in a catastrophic situation because they are scared," Mr Mamere told reporters.
Justice Minister Mr Dominique Perben says that the marriage will be invalid.
Mr Raffarin told parliament this week that French law does not permit marriage between people of the same sex and said that any officials performing gay weddings would "incur the punishment laid out by the law".
Bordeaux's public prosecutor warned Mr Mamere on Thursday that he did not have the legal right to conduct the wedding because the address given by one of the men was invalid. Mr Mamere dismissed this as "justice via guerrilla tactics".
The wedding is France's first between a gay couple although laws already allow civil unions between homosexuals. Gays claim that this is a bad deal in terms of tax, inheritance and parenting rights.
A recent survey by Elle magazine found that 64 per cent of French people were in favour of same-sex weddings, but the population is more divided when it comes to gay couples adopting children. The survey showed that this was backed by 49 per cent of respondents.