Photo of Two Women Kissing Before French Protestors Goes Viral

A photograph of two women kissing in front of a group of antigay protestors in Marseille, France, is lighting up the Twitterverse and going viral.

On Tuesday, demonstrators opposed to a bill that would legalize marriage equality gathered in 75 French cities to protest the legislation, which would also legalize same-sex adoption, reports Huffington Post. In an effort to demonstrate their support and solidarity with French LGBT people, two teenagers embraced in a kiss directly in front of the antigay protestors, who looked on, aghast. The moment was captured on camera by Agence France Presse photographer Gerard Julien.

According to French gay magazine Tetu, both women are straight, but wanted to take a simple, meaningful stand in favor of equality. Julia, 17, and Auriane, 19, told the magazine the kiss was spontaneous, and clearly caught the protestors off-guard, evidenced by the open-mouthed expressions visible on several background faces.

"While we were kissing, they were screaming, 'You're disgusting! You are not beautiful!" Julia told Tetu (text of this quote has been translated from French). Julia also said her mother told her she was proud of her daughter for standing up for her convictions.