David Cameron is not the only European leader to be unsettled by the gay marriage debate, reports The Guardian.
The French president, François Hollande, is under fire for his proposals to legalise gay marriage, as street demonstrations illustrate the deep divisions in society. Religious groups and the right have led thousands in protest rallies, while equality campaigners and several leftwing MPs have warned that the law will be shamefully inadequate in not allowing equal gay parenting rights or medically assisted procreation.
The Socialist president had hoped that the gay marriage bill, to be debated in parliament in January, would be a milestone in social progress: a key reform with his name on it, to detract from the negative headlines about the financial crisis. But French society is tearing itself apart over the issue with an intensity that was not anticipated by the government, and Hollande has been accused of not taking a strong enough stand to force full equality on to the French statute book.
While the UK law aims to legalise gay marriage in line with existing rights for British gay couples – such as adoption, assisted procreation and automatic joint parenting rights – in France the scenario is very different. Hollande's law is not just about gay marriage but also adoption for gay couples, which is still illegal in France and remains controversial. The proposed law would only allow gay couples the right to adopt if they were married, not in a civil partnership – a distinction that has rung alarm bells among equality groups.
The law would not give automatic joint parenting rights to gay couples who had a child together, nor would it allow medically assisted procreation or IVF. This would give French gay people far fewer rights than those in the UK, and leave a stark inequality between gay and straight couples which has infuriated many on the left.
Socialists and gay campaigners will take to the streets on Sunday for a demonstration which they hope will counter the outpouring of opposition to gay marriage and adoption from the right and certain key figures in the Roman Catholic church.
Last month, French activists from the Ukraine-based feminist group Femen were attacked with pepper-spray, and hit and kicked by anti-gay-marriage protesters when they tried to disrupt a rightwing march in Paris. Hollande was forced to calm furious gay rights groups after he told mayors they could have a "freedom of conscience" clause allowing them to opt out of performing same-sex marriage ceremonies at town halls. After an outcry within his own leftwing ranks, Hollande backtracked and said his comments had been "inappropriate".
Read more of this report from The Guardian.