The law opening marriage to same-sex couples, no. 2013-404 (), commonly referred to as the Taubira law () after the Justice minister who introduced it, is a French law which, since 18 May 2013, grants same-sex couples the right to marry and jointly adopt children.
It was first introduced to the National Assembly of France on 7 November 2012 as Bill no. 344 (). On 12 February 2013, the National Assembly approved the bill in a 329–229 vote. "Loi sur le mariage pour tous : les députés adoptent l'article 1." Le Parisien. Retrieved 2 February 2013. The Senate approved the full bill with a 171–165 majority on 12 April with minor amendments. On 23 April, the National Assembly approved the amended bill, in a 331–225 vote, and following approval of the law by the Constitutional Council of France, it was signed into law by President François Hollande on 17 May and published in the Journal Officiel on 18 May 2013, with the first marriages under the law scheduled for 29 May.
Background
Prior to 2012 Same-sex marriage was an issue in the 2007 French presidential election, with the Conservative UMP opposing it and the Socialist Party supporting it, though both candidates supported civil unions. LGBT organizations in France, who believed that the prohibition of same-sex marriage was contrary to the law, asked the country's Constitutional Council to examine the constitutionality of same-sex marriage and to review the articles of the Civil Code. On 28 January 2011, the Constitutional Court of France decided that the law as it stood was constitutional, with same-sex marriage being a question for Parliament.
On 14 June 2011, the National Assembly voted 293-222 against a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, introduced by Socialist Party deputy Patrick Bloche. Most deputies of the majority party Union for a Popular Movement voted against the measure, while deputies of the Socialist Party mostly voted in favor. Members of the Socialist Party stated that legalization of same-sex marriage would become a priority should they gain a majority in the 2012 legislative election.
2012 general election During his campaign for the 2012 presidential election, Socialist Party candidate François Hollande declared his support for same-sex marriage and adoption for LGBT couples, and included them as one of his 60 government commitments. On 6 May 2012, Hollande won the election and promised to pass same-sex marriage legislation before spring 2013. A month later, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault announced that "Marriage and adoption laws for same-sex couples will be done quickly". On 17 June, Hollande's party won an absolute majority in the French Assembly, which was followed by an announcement by the government spokesperson Najat Vallaud-Belkacem on Pride Day that the marriage equality law would be adopted in spring 2013 at the latest. On 3 July, in his first speech in front of the newly elected assembly, Prime Minister Ayrault announced that marriage and adoption for everybody will be a reality "in the first semester of 2013". In August 2012, Prime Minister Ayrault announced that a bill to legalize same-sex marriage would be introduced to the National Assembly and the Senate in October 2012.
Legislative history The draft bill was submitted to parliament on 7 November 2012, by justice minister, Christiane Taubira. In its explanatory memorandum, the government noted that "marriage is traditionally defined as a formal legal act by which man and woman establish a union and civil law regulates the conditions, effects and dissolution" but that "the idea of opening marriage to same sex couples has risen steadily" since the adoption of civil unions and that "a new step must be taken". In an interview published the same day by the newspaper Sud Ouest, Taubira said that the bill would be "a reform of civilization".
The bill: Legislative dossiers: "Projet de loi ouvrant le mariage aux couples de personnes de même sexe" (JUSC1236338L), Légifrance, link does not change the current system of marriage – it instead makes the celebration possible between two persons of the same sex living in France; changes default arrangements with regard to surnames; opens the way for adoption by married same-sex couples, whether joint adoption or individual adoption; recognizes marriages between two people of the same sex performed abroad, including (retroactively) their children adopted legally in France or abroad; provides, when necessary, adaptations to the Civil Code and twelve other codes (Code of Criminal Procedure, Code of transport, etc.), as well as four other major laws (a 1945 ordinance on juvenile delinquency, a law on public hospitals, a law on public services, a law on public land). The words "father and mother" are replaced by the word "parent" and the words "husband and wife" with the word "spouse"; these changes do not apply to acts of civil status and family registers, as neither form is governed by law; authorizes the government to proceed in these adaptations as necessary, by means of simple (regulatory) ordinances, without requiring any new law, to modify these laws and regulations as necessary to fix their interpretation according to the main articles of the new bill (most of these adaptations will be in simple replacements of the terminology, or removal of articles fixing restrictions against same-sex parents).
The bill does not create any new right to have children, but it also does not extend, restrict or modify it further. All existing legal conditions and controls will apply to same-sex spouses equally to spouses of different sexes, or to single people. It also reaffirms (as agreed by the Constitutional Council) that parental civil relations are independent of the biological or natural conditions, simply because this has never been affirmed by existing laws during the Republic or by its current Constitution and preambules. Also it does not invalidate any existing international convention or treaty which may be applicable abroad.
In the National Assembly, the bill was returned to the Law Commission for which Erwann Binet was appointed rapporteur. On 14 November 2012, Marie-Françoise Clergeau was appointed rapporteur for the opinion of the Social Affairs Committee.Assemblée nationale, Commission des affaires sociales, 14 November 2012, 9-hour session, report no. 17, lire en ligne, accessed 9 December 2012
Legislative opposition On 26 October 2012, the former prime minister and deputy of Paris François Fillon (UMP) stated that his party would repeal the law, if it wins the next election. Valérie Pécresse, also of the UMP, voiced the same position.
On 27 November 2012, during a debate on a law concerning terrorism, UMP deputy Nicolas Dhuicq linked the bill on same-sex marriage, homosexual parenting and terrorism. This statement was condemned by government spokesman Najat Belkacem-Vallaud. The next day, in the context of a question to the government, Marc Le Fur (UMP) stated that legalized adoption for gay couples would mean that for some "the child is simply a commodity" and that the government means "to impose by force" the law. Dominique Bertinotti, minister for the family, considered that these words "do not honor" the member and replied: "At the time of PACS, you proclaimed the end of the world. The end of the world did not occur"."
Law Commission hearings and debates The Law Commission held weekly hearings on same-sex marriage from November 2012. It heard evidence from countries already having opened up marriage to same-sex couples, representatives of institutions, anthropologists, philosophers, doctors, lawyers and LGBT families. Associations opposed to the bill, however, disputed the method of rapporteur, Erwann Binet.
On 6 December 2012, Nicolas Gougain, spokesman of Inter-LGBT, denounced insinuations during his hearing before the committee that "because you are gay parents, you are potentially dangerous to your children because of the company you keep".
On 13 December 2012, at a hearing before the Judiciary Committee of the National Assembly, the Defender of Rights (ombudsman), Dominique Baudis, said that the text "puts an end to situations of inequality or indirect discrimination" and gives children raised by a homosexual couple "a legal status preferable to the current situation," while expressing reservations "on the method of preparation of bill". "Although parental marital situations and all spouses [...] are not identical in all respects, the project seeks to confuse", "the result of this confusion may be many legal uncertainties harmful" to "all children".
On 15 and 16 January, the debate in the Law Commission went over the text of the bill, including an amendment by the rapporteur Erwann Binet to Article 4 of the draft stating that the provisions of the Civil Code apply to "same-sex parents when referring to the father and mother" and not to grandparents.
Discussion session The floor debate began on 29 January 2013. 5362 amendments were filed, mostly by right-wing opposition groups, which brought the bill to "among the top 10 bills with the largest number of amendments in 30 years", the record being held by left-wing parliamentary groups with 137,655 amendments to the law on energy which privatized Gaz de France in 2006. The referendum motion filed by 60 members was dismissed on 30 January 2013 by 298 votes against 184, and the amendment of the conscience clause was rejected on February 2 by 244 votes against 101.
On 2 February 2013, the National Assembly approved Article 1 of the bill, which defines marriage as a union between two people regardless of the gender of the partners, by 249 votes against 97. On 12 February 2013, the National Assembly approved the bill as a whole in a 329-229 vote.France: Bill to legalise gay marriage and same-sex adoption approved
+ Results of the first vote in the National Assembly Parliamentary group For Against Abstaining Vote total Socialist, Republican & Citizen 283 4 5 292 Union for a Popular Movement Group 3 187 5 196 Union of Democrats and Independents Group 4 25 0 29 Ecologist Group 17 0 0 17 Radical, Republican, Democratic and Progressist 13 2 0 15 Democratic and Republican Left 9 4 0 13 Non-Attached 0 7 0 7 TOTAL 329 229 10 568
Senate Following the National Assembly's approval, the Senate has to consider the bill. On 20 March, the Law Committee of the Senate advanced the bill by a 23-21 vote.French Senate law commission backs gay marriage equality , 20 March 2013 The full Senate has been considering the bill since 4 April. La commission des lois adopte le projet de loi ouvrant le mariage aux couples de personnes de même sexe et consacre le principe d’égal traitement entre les époux ou les parents de même sexe et ceux de sexe différent, 20 March 2013 The Senate rejected a motion that would have put the issue before voters in a national referendum. Mariage homosexuel : le Sénat ne veut pas d'un référendum
The Senate approved the full bill with a 171-165 majority on 12 April with minor amendments. Mariage pour tous : le détail du vote au Sénat
Second National Assembly vote The National Assembly adopted to vote on the bill without further amendment, meaning that, if approved, the text would become definitive. It approved the bill as amended by the Senate on 23 April 2013, in a 331-225 vote, with ten abstentions.French lawmakers approve same-sex marriage bill Shortly before the vote, protesters opposing the law were ejected from the Assembly as they tried to unfurl a banner.