France to Consider Marriage Equality Bill

The legislation will be introduced in both houses of Parliament in October, the prime minister said Saturday.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

August 26 2012 2:32 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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The French government will introduce a marriage equality bill to Parliament in October, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the annual meeting of the Socialist Party Saturday.

"We will send a bill to the National Assembly and the Senate to allow same-sex couples to marry," Ayrault told party members gathered in the coastal of La Rochelle, The Wall Street Journal reports. "It would also allow them to form families and adopt children."

France has offered marriage-like civil partnerships since the late 1990s, but those do not confer adoption rights. The legislation, which would bring France into line with many other European countries and fulfill a campaign promise of President Francois Hollande, is likely to pass because the Socialists control both houses of Parliament, the Journal notes, although opposition from religious groups could make debate intense.