Protests delay French family bill

Planned reforms to France's family policy have been put on hold following protests by conservative groups.

The French government has indefinitely postponed planned reforms to its family policy following fresh demonstrations by the conservative groups that opposed last year's gay marriage legislation.

A new family bill that gives more rights to parents and children in non-traditional families had been due to be examined by parliament this spring.

But Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault's office on Monday said it had been taken off the agenda for 2014 because of a "dense" parliamentary schedule, France Info radio and other media reported. No new timetable was given.

The move came a day after tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Paris and Lyon, accusing the government of "familyphobia." The protesters accused the government of undermining the traditional family model, based on parents of opposite sex, and vowed to fight any measures in favour of same-sex parents.

They also demanded the government scrap a pilot primary-school program on gender equality, claiming that children were being taught "girls could become boys and boys could become girls." The government has denied the allegations.

Sunday's protests were organised by the La Manif Pour Tous (Demonstration for All) collective that rallied opposition to the Marriage for All bill.

More than 7000 same-sex marriages have been celebrated since the law came into effect in May.


2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News

Download our apps

Listen to our podcasts

Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service

Watch now

Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world