December 12, 2006

Abstract: - Many adults in France believe homosexual partners should be allowed to enter wedlock, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Tetu. 62 per cent of respondents favour the right of same-sex couples to marry.

- Many adults in France believe homosexual partners should be allowed to enter wedlock, according to a poll by Ipsos published in Tetu. 62 per cent of respondents favour the right of same-sex couples to marry.

France has allowed civil unions for gay and lesbian couples since 2000. In June 2004, Begles mayor and Green party politician Noël Mamère conducted the country's first ever same-sex wedding, claiming that there are no regulations in the country or the European Union (EU) that could thwart such a ceremony.

Interior minister Dominique de Villepin eventually suspended Mamère from his post as mayor for four weeks, citing a "grave misunderstanding of the duties of his office."

In January, the French National Assembly released a report, which cited the need to "affirm and protect the rights of children and the prevalence of those rights over the aspirations of adults." The document recommends maintaining the existing regulations that forbid homosexual couples from marrying, adopting children or resorting to in-vitro fertilization. 55 per cent of respondents believe same-sex couples should not have the right to adopt children.

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Canada and South Africa, and at least 18 countries offer some form of legal recognition to same sex unions.

Polling Data

Do you favour or oppose the following measures concerning same-sex couples?

The right of same-sex couples to marry

Favour	62%
Oppose	37%
No opinion	1%

The right of same-sex couples to adopt children

Favour	44%
Oppose	55%
No opinion	1%

Source: Ipsos / Tetu
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,008 French adults, conducted on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4, 2006. No margin of error was provided.