BBC News, 2
February 2013
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The bill marks one of France's biggest social reforms since the abolition of the death penalty in 1981 |
Deputies
voted 249-97 in favour of redefining marriage as being an agreement between two
people - not just between a man and a woman.
President
Francois Hollande's Socialists and their left-wing supporters backed it,
opposed by many opposition UMP and centrist MPs.
The
proposals have generated protests and counter-protests for months.
Opinion
polls suggest that around 55-60% of French people support gay marriage, though
only about 50% approve of gay adoption.
Correspondents
say the ease with which the article passed suggests the bill as a whole will
pass.
Debates are
expected to go on for more than a week, as MPs discuss hundreds of amendments,
most of them filed by the centre-right opposition.
On the way
they are expected to approve the other key measure in the bill, which would
allow gay couples to adopt children.
'Freedom to
choose'
The bill
marks one of France's biggest social reforms since the abolition of the death
penalty in 1981.
"We
are happy and proud to have taken this first step," Justice Minister
Christiane Taubira said.
"We
are going to establish the freedom for everyone to choose his or her partner
for a future together."
UMP MP
Philippe Gosselin said the legislation was only the beginning of a trend that
the French people did not want.
"Today
it is marriage and adoption. Tomorrow it will be medically assisted conception
and surrogate mothers."
It is
expected that the legislation will reach the statue books by the middle of the
year, AFP reports.
In
September last year, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the Roman Catholic archbishop
of Lyon, argued that plans to redefine the concept of marriage would open the
door to incest and polygamy.
The debate
in the National Assembly is due to last throughout the weekend.
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