Same-sex marriage in France
Mayor of the Bordeaux suburb of Bègles Noël Mamère, a former Greens presidential candidate, conducted a same-sex marriage ceremony for two men, Bertrand Charpentier and Stéphane Chapin, on 5 June 2004.[17] Minister of Justice Dominique Perben had stated that such unions would be legally void, and called for judicial intervention to halt the ceremony.One legal argument defended by the public prosecutor, representing the national government, was that the French Civil Code contained several mentions of "husband" and "wife", thereby implying different genders.[21][22][23] Shortly after the ceremony took place, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin instituted disciplinary procedures against Mamère, suspending him from his duties for one month.[30] On 12 November 2011, Mayor Jean Vila of Cabestany performed a same-sex wedding ceremony for a couple named Patrick, 48, and Guillaume, 37."[32] The French Government's reaction was mixed: the Secretary of State for Family, Claude Greff, called the event a "provocation on the eve of the presidential election", while Minister of Solidarity and Social Cohesion Roselyne Bachelot said she supported same-sex marriage but that the ceremony was "not the best way to advance the cause".[34] On 17 June, Hollande's party won an absolute majority in the National Assembly,[35] followed by an announcement by government spokesperson Najat Vallaud-Belkacem that a same-sex marriage bill would be adopted in spring 2013 at the latest.[36] On 3 July, in his first speech in front of the newly elected assembly, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that marriage and adoption for all couples would be a reality "in the first semester of 2013".[48] The law amended Article 143 (Book I, Title V, Chapter I) of the Napoleonic Code to state: Marriage is contracted by two persons of different or of the same sex.[7] The same day, President François Hollande promulgated the bill, which was officially published on 18 May 2013 in the Journal Officiel de la République Française.[52] In June 2013, the French Government issued a circulaire stipulating a maximum sentence of 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of 75,000€ for any mayor or local official who refuses to perform a marriage for a same-sex couple on the sole basis of their sexual orientation.[54] In September 2015, a court in Marseille sentenced Sabrina Hout to five months' imprisonment for having refused to perform a same-sex marriage back in August 2014.[56] In July 2018, MP Guillaume Chiche introduced a bill to legalise assisted reproduction for married and unmarried lesbian couples and single women.[67] The proposal would also foresee the state covering the cost of the assisted reproduction procedures for all women under 43 and allowing children born with donated sperm to find out their donor's identity when they reach the age of 18.[68][69] There has been little political movement to abrogate the same-sex marriage law despite some politicians, including 2017 presidential candidate Marine Le Pen,[70] expressly calling for its repeal.[73] While running in the 2022 presidential election, Le Pen said she also opposed repealing the law, tweeting on 15 April 2022, "I will not take rights away from French citizens.In the Society Islands of French Polynesia, as well as in other Polynesian cultures, there exists people who fulfill a traditional, spiritual and social third gender role.[79] "Being outside of the traditional male-female divide", they are raised as girls from early childhood, carry out women's work in the home and the community, and historically often served as domestic servants of the nobility."[80] They have been known to Europeans since the 18th century, with William Bligh, the captain of HMS Bounty, having noted the presence of "men with great marks of effeminacy".[87] French sociologist Laure Hins Grépin reported in 2005 that piivehine had sexual intercourse primarily with "openly macho" cisgender men, but did not say whether they were historically allowed to marry.This marked the first time in modern history that a legally recognized same-sex marriage had occurred in a jurisdiction where a majority of the population follows the religion of Islam.[124] On 18 February 2012, Ludovic-Mohamed Zahed married his South African partner Qiyaammudeen Jantjies-Zahed in a religious ceremony in Sevran, marking the first Muslim same-sex wedding in France.
Marriage
Civil union
Limited domestic recognition (cohabitation)
Limited foreign recognition (residency rights)
Unrecognized
Constitution limits marriage to opposite-sex couples
¹ May include recent laws or court decisions that have not yet entered into effect.
Legal status ofsame-sex unionsMarriageAndorraArgentinaAustraliaAustriaBelgiumBrazilCanadaColombiaCosta RicaDenmarkEcuadorEstoniaFinlandGermanyGreeceIcelandIrelandLiechtensteinLuxembourgMexicoNetherlandsNew ZealandNorwayPortugalSloveniaSouth AfricaSwedenSwitzerlandTaiwanThailandUnited KingdomUnited StatesUruguayIsraelAmerican SamoaCivil unionsBoliviaCroatiaCyprusCzech RepublicHungaryLatviaMonacoMontenegroSan MarinoBermudaCayman IslandsMinimal recognitionBulgariaCambodiaHong KongLithuaniaNamibiaSint MaartenPolandRomaniaSlovakiaSame-sex union legislationSame-sex union court casesTimeline of same-sex marriageRecognition of same-sex unions in AfricaRecognition of same-sex unions in AsiaRecognition of same-sex unions in EuropeRecognition of same-sex unions in the AmericasRecognition of same-sex unions in OceaniaMarriage privatizationDivorce of same-sex couplesDomestic partnershipMilitary policyAdoptionLGBTQ rights by country or territoryCaribbean NetherlandsAruba and CuraçaoNiue, Tokelau, or the Cook IslandsBritish Overseas Territoriessome tribal nationsComan v. RomaniaEuropean Court of JusticeEU citizensguru–shishyanata prathamaitri kararpartnership certificatesSame-sex marriageFrancethirteenth country in the worldEuropemetropolitan Franceoverseas departments and territoriesFrench peoplejointly adopt childrenNational AssemblySocialistPrime MinisterJean-Marc AyraultPresidentFrançois Hollandecampaign for the presidencySenateUnion for a Popular MovementConstitutional CouncilpromulgatedJournal Officiel de la République FrançaiseMontpelliercivil solidarity pactFrenchcivil partnershipsFrench ParliamentLionel JospinBordeauxBèglesNoël MamèreGreensEuropean Court of Human RightsMinister of JusticeDominique PerbenFrench Civil CodeCourt of CassationEuropean Convention on Human RightsInterior MinisterDominique de VillepininjunctionCouncil of StateFirst Secretary of the Socialist Party