French Government to Press Forward with Gay Marriage Law

Unfazed by weekend protests

Opponents to a government-sponsored bill that would legalize marriage and adoption for same-sex couples took the streets of Paris Sunday in the biggest demonstration over a social issue in France in nearly 30 years.

Coming from across the country, protesters held balloons and waved banners and flags that read, "All born from a man and a woman," and "Our wombs aren't shopping carts." They demanded that the bill be withdrawn, arguing that legalizing marriage and adoption for same-sex couples is against nature.

Organizers of the protest said 800,000 to 1 million people attended the demonstration, while police estimated the turnout at 340,000. Demonstrators, including prominent right-wing and far-right opposition politicians, marched through the city before converging on the Champs-de-Mars, where the Eiffel Tower sits.