Part of the LGBT rights series |
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Same-sex marriage has been legal in France since 18 May 2013,[1] making France the thirteenth country in the world and the ninth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to marry. The legislation applies to metropolitan France as well as to all French overseas departments and territories.[2] Polling suggests that a significant majority of French people support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.[3][4]
A bill granting same-sex couples the right to marry and jointly adopt children was introduced to the National Assembly by the Socialist government of Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on 7 November 2012, with the support of President François Hollande who declared his intent to support the legislation during his campaign for the presidency. On 12 February 2013, the National Assembly approved the bill in a 329–229 vote. On 12 April 2013, the Senate approved the bill with amendments in a 171–165 vote, followed by the approval of the amended bill by the National Assembly on 23 April 2013 in a 331–225 vote. However, a challenge to the law by the conservative Union for a Popular Movement party was filed with the Constitutional Council following the vote.[5][6] On 17 May 2013, the Council ruled that the law was constitutional.[7][8] That same day, President Hollande promulgated the bill,[9] which was officially published the next day in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.[2] The first official same-sex marriage ceremony took place on 29 May 2013 in the city of Montpellier.[10]
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