A far-right mayor in the south of France has refused to marry a lesbian couple in defiance of the Socialist government's recently passed same-sex marriage law. The couple have asked regional officials to force Bollène mayor Marie-Claude Bompard to comply with the law, reports RFI.
Amandine Gilles, 33, and Angélique Leroux, 27, hope to be married in their hometown in south-eastern France on 10 September.
But on Friday Bompard met them and told them that she would not carry out the ceremony because it was against her religious principles.
She would also refuse to delegate another councillor to carry out the ceremony, as the law allows her to do.
Bompard is a member of far-right split from Marine Le Pen's Front National, the Ligue du Sud (Southern League), led by her husband, Jacques.
Jacques Bompard, who is a member of the city of Orange, has also refused to carry out a gay marriage but delegated his power to a fellow councillor.
Read more of this report from RFI.