In the wake of a monster rally in Paris opposing the proposed same-sex law, who in France is in favour of such a move? (pic - "Marriage for Everyone" says the banner at a recent Gay Pride event in Paris)
Just three weeks before the start of the debate over the proposed “Marriage for All” law by the parliament, those opposed to the union of homosexual couples have made themselves heard in the form of a huge protest march on the streets of Paris last Sunday, where estimates have run up to the million mark. In common with an increasing number of countries that are legislating for same-sex marriage, the majority of French citizens are in favour of this reform of the Civil Code; that’s according to a new survey by IFOP published by weekly journal Pèlerin on Tuesday of this week.
Unsurprisingly given France’s traditional left-right divide on virtually all aspects of society, those with left-wing sympathies are overwhelmingly in favour of the proposed law (79%), while those on the right are not so hot for the extension of marriage to homosexual couples (33%). Overall, 60% of the sample of 1,005 people polled representing the French public were in favour of the “Mariage Pour Tous” law.
One surprise result was found amongst supporters of the Front National. The extreme right party took part in Sunday’s protest, where they had the support of their friends across the channel in the form of BNP leader Nick Griffin. However, the poll found that a majority of its sympathisers (54%) were actually in favour of the same-sex law.
The IFOP survey also shows that support for the principle of gay marriage is fractured along age lines, with the over-65 age group being the only one to count a majority of its members opposed to the proposal. At the other end of the age spectrum, three quarters of the 18-24 age grouping are in favour with the legal change.
Amongst Catholics, a majority (54%) are opposed to gay marriage, with those who profess themselves “practising” Catholics counting a more important majority (59%) as those who say they are “non-practising” Catholics (56%)
MAJORITY OF FRENCH NOT IN FAVOUR OF ADOPTION RIGHTS FOR GAY COUPLES
On the more emotive issue of whether or not homosexual couples should be allowed to adopt children, most French citizens (54%) seem to be opposed to the idea. From a political point of view, only the left-wing voters have a majority in favour of adoption rights for same-sex couples (62%), as opposed to the FN voters (38%) and the UMP (moderate right-wing party of Nicolas Sarkozy) voters (22%)
Analysing the respondents by age shows a similar pattern, with 42% in the 50-64 age group saying “yes” to gay couple adoption rights, just 27% of the over-64s in favour and a majority of respondents in the other age categories being in favour.
59% of Catholics are opposed to same-sex adoption rights, with a figure of 70% of those “practising” and a figure of 57% of those “non-practising”.