After a tortured debate, the same-sex marriage and adoption bill was adopted by France's Senate and National Assembly last month. The bill was quickly challenged on constitutional grounds by the main right-wing opposition UMP party of former president Nicolas Sarkozy.
But the Constitutional Council ruled on Friday that same-sex marriage "did not run contrary to any constitutional principles," and that it did not infringe on "basic rights or liberties or national sovereignty". It said the interest of the child would be paramount in adoption cases, cautioning that legalising same-sex adoption would not automatically mean the "right to a child".
Comedian Frigide Barjot, who has become a leading mouthpiece for the anti-gay marriage movement, denounced the ruling as "a provocation" and called for the campaign to continue. Scores of protesters took to the streets of Paris to voice their opposition to the ruling on Friday: previous, occasionally violent, demonstrations against the bill have drawn hundreds of thousands onto the streets.
Another senior UMP figure, Herve Mariton, said the party would come up with alternative proposals in that were "more respectful of the rights of children". The anti-gay marriage lobby, backed by the Catholic Church and conservative opposition, argues the bill will undermine an essential building block of society. It is also the ninth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriage after legalisation in the traditionally liberal Netherlands and Scandinavia, but also in strongly Catholic Portugal and Spain.
Legislation is also moving through the UK Parliament. But the measure has aroused stronger than expected opposition in France - a country where the Catholic Church was thought to have lost much of its influence over the public. A coming-of-age story centered around a young, self-taught cook as he travels through different cities.
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By Maylis de Kerangal. By Boris Akunin. Translated from the Russian by Andrew Bromfield. A collection of short stories that explore suffering, salvation and the possibility of moving beyond the wounds of the past. Translated from the French by Alison Anderson. Available May 7 from Europa. By Jean Genet. The diary of a screenwriter kidnapped by a filmmaker, who imprisons him in a country estate and forces him to write a successful script. Translated from the Spanish by Megan McDowell.
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Translated from the Spanish by Will Vanderhyden. Available November 12 from Open Letter. Translated from the Irish by Alan Titley. Available September 24 from Yale University Press. Translated from the French by Robin Mackay. A young Dutch girl is sent to a bitter aristocrat to train as a fencer, only to fall in love with him. By Marente de Moor. Translated from the Dutch by David Doherty. Available August 6 from World Editions. A fable of environmentalist ideals pitted against the realities of local politics and global consumer culture.