PARIS — The French Senate on Wednesday evening approved a key provision of its proposed marriage equality bill that would guarantee adoption rights to same-sex couples.
Wednesday’s vote comes just on day after the Senate adopted Article 1, the provision that eliminated “opposite gender” as a condition of the right to marriage.
The Senate must now complete a review of the legislation in its entirety, which could take weeks, although passage of both articles almost guarantees gay couples will soon be able to marry and adopt in France.
Once approved in the Senate, the bill is expected to go back to the National Assembly in late May, which already approved the measure a little more than a month ago.
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While many view the legalization of same-sex marriage and gay couple adoption in France as a foregone conclusion, the parliamentary debate on the measure has highlighted deep divisions over the issue in French society, sparking mass public demonstrations both for and against it.
Hollande, who campaigned in favor of same-sex marriage and adoption last year, could sign an approved bill into law as early as summer.
Both houses are dominated by President Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party and its allies.
