by Flore (Jan 15, 2005)

The marriage of Stéphane and Bertrand, on June the 5th, 2004, celebrated in Bègles by Noël Mamère, the mayor, became quickly more than a political phenomenon: a big question of society ...
To begin, why this question? In France, and in several countries, homosexual couples can sign a Civil Pact (in France the PACS), or kind of. It gives them the right to have a common bank account for example. But it doesn't allow them to adopt children. And that's what the main homosexuals are fighting for: to be recognized as a couple like the others.
On the legislative side, in France it's not recognized because marriage is defined as "a union between a woman and a man". So two men or two women aren't allowed to get married. However, single women are allowed to adopt children, like single men, or married couples. That’s the reason why women from a homosexual couple often "forget" to declare that they are "with another one" when they start a procedure of adoption.

Belgium and the Netherlands are the only coutries to marry homosexual couples. But in Denmark, Germany and Sweden, like soon in the United Kingdom and Spain, special contracts are considered for them.

The laws have been changed in favor of the homosexuals since 1998 in the Netherlands... (aren't we a little bit late in France?), giving the parental authority to both parents, whatever their sexual inclination. And in 2002 marriage was legalized, and adoption too. Two partners can decide to adopt children, even the biological children from their partner. The juridical status is the same for hetero or homosexual couples.

In Sweden and Danmark, the juridical equality has also been acquired since 2002.

I think that nowadays we have to ask ourselves the question. How do we consider homosexuality? How do we react when we see two girls or two boys kissing each other? I haven't seen a lot of homosexual couples in France, but I did in Germany because over there homosexuality is tolerated. I think it's a fact of tolerance (do I have to remind that homosexuals where interned in concentration camps during the second world war under the Third Reich?).

Please take a while to think of this : "We fall in love neither with a woman nor a man, but with a human being".

If you wish to react to this article, write to the editor.

Dear Flore,
We read your article about homosexual wedding already two weeks ago but we didn´t have time to write to you some reactions. But now we can do it.
Our opinion is that

1. Homosexuals are people like everybody else so they have to be able to do what they want. And if somebody wants to marry a person who has got the same sex, why not?
2. If heterosexuals love somebody they want to marry him or her. So why should it be different or abnormal with homosexuals ?
We think your article contains the most important facts about homosexual wedding but there wasn´t anything in it we didn´t know before.

April 29, 2006

I found the article very interesting because I think that nowadays marriage and the adoption of children by homosexual people has to be totally legalized. I totally disagree with the idea that marriage is the union of a man and a woman, because two women or two men can fall in love just like a man and a woman. Homosexual people are just like other people. I also think that they have to have the right to adopt children because they can`t have them biologically and they deserve to have children just like anybody else.
In Argentina, marriage and adoption isn`t legal for homosexual people either. I don`t agree with this policy and believe it is and old-fashioned way of looking at things. Nowadays it has to be a right for everybody to get married and adopt children.

Karina (Buenos Aires, Argentina)