France

PARIS — The Socialist majority French government on Wednesday approved a draft law to that would legalize same-sex marriage and gay adoption, despite fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church and its right wing supporters in the Senate and the National Assembly.

France has delayed plans to move forward with legislation to legalize same-sex marriage amid growing opposition led by religious organizations and the majority Roman Catholic Church.

The Republican National Convention gets down to business today in Tampa, Fla., where delegates are expected to overwhelmingly pass the Republican Party platform that is unequivocally against marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Despite that, could 2012 turn out to be the year of marriage equality?

The French government is expected to introduce legislation in October that would legalize same-sex marriage, a move that would bring France in line with several European countries and fulfill an campaign promise by President François Hollande.

In terms of the news — international reporting — this was the year of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage (or ‘marriage equality’ or ‘gay marriage’) was a leading international concern — whether in the West or raised as a chimeric threat, particularly in Africa.

McDonald’s is running a new ad on French TV that features a gay teen and his father, who is unaware of his son’s orientation. The ad shows a gay teen seated at a McDonald’s table, talking to his boyfriend on his cell phone. He hangs up when he sees his father coming. The father, unaware of his son’s sexual orientation, proceeds to joke about the son’s all-male class at school. “It’s […]