Marriage as an Equal Right for All
Illustration on the Manifestation for countering Homosexual Marriage
A gimplse at the Manifestion on the 27th January (©LP/Jérémie Jung.)
Around 140 000 (according to the police) to 400 000 (according to the organizers) gathered in the streets in Paris on the 27th January, 2013, supporting French government’s decisions in advancing the “marriage for all” (mariage pour tous) bill, which will legalize the homosexual marriage and the adoption/filiation of the homosexual families. The bill will be sent to the French National Assembly on 30th January, 2013 for further reviews and discussions on the law amendments.
Many people joined the manifestation on the 27th January not only to show their support in the equal rights for all, but also because of the hatred and the insults demonstrated during the series of the debates and actions held by those who are against the legalization of the homosexual marriage. Two weeks earlier, those who counter the legalization of the homosexual marriage also protested on the streets to show their disagreements on this bill, emphasizing that family values should be restored and preserved and opposing the right to adoption and filiation of the homosexual couples.
The major debates remain on the legitimacy in the medically assisted procreation (MAP) of the homosexual couples. For those who disagree the legalization of the “marriage for all” (mariage pour tous) bill, they contest that the adoption or MAP of the homosexual couples might bring negative impacts on the children.
Yet, there is no evidence that heterosexual couples can be the best candidates to bring up children. With the complexity in the current society, many children grow up in single- parent families or grandparenting, while some children who are raised by the heterosexual families might suffer from child abuse and maltreatment. Thus, there are no absolute correlations that children can only grow up healthily in the so- called “traditional” families; instead, it is the family background and the ways of parenting that will determine the children’s happiness.
One of the most intriguing discussions on the homosexual marriage bill could be how Christiane Taubira, the French Minister of Justice reflected on this issue. She stated in an interview that,
” Our society is changing; we adjust the right (homosexual marriage bill) to fit the social and human reality… there is no right to the child, and we (the French government) open the right to marriage and adoption for the same- sex couples. The procedures and rules (for adoption) are the same for all heterosexual couples, homosexual couples. It is the judge who ultimately decides (the suitability) of that adoption.”
