| Same-sex marriage
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| Performed nationwide in:
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| Belgium
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| Netherlands
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| Performed in some regions in:
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| Canada: BC, MB, NL, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT
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| United States: MA
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| Articles on other countries and regions:
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| Australia
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| Canada: AB, NB, NT, NU, PE
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| France
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| Ireland
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| Romania
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| South Africa
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| Spain
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| United Kingdom
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| United States: CA
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| See also
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| Civil union
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| Domestic partnership
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| Edit this box (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:SSM)
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The legal status of same-sex marriages in France is unclear. As of 2004 one same-sex marriage ceremony has been conducted in France and it has been declared void. France has a statute authorizing domestic partnerships, known as PACS, between members of the same sex or opposite sexes.
On June 5, 2004, former Green Party presidential candidate Noël Mamère, Mayor of the Bordeaux suburb of Bègles, conducted a same-sex marriage ceremony for two men, Bertrand Charpentier and Stéphane Chapin. Mamère had said that there is nothing in French law to prohibit such a ceremony, and that he would appeal any challenge to the European Court of Human Rights.
French Justice Minister Dominique Perben had stated that such unions would be legally void, and called for judicial intervention to halt the ceremony. On July 27 2004, the Bordeaux court of large claims declared the marriage null and void. One legal argument defended by the public prosecutor, which, representing the national government, opposed the marriage, was that the civil code speaks several times of a husband and a wife, which implies different genders.
Shortly after the ceremony took place, Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin instituted disciplinary procedures against Mamère. Mamère was suspended for a month.
As of August 2004, the legal situation is still unclear, though it seems that same-sex marriages cannot be legal without a change in the statutes governing marriage. The annulment of the marriage has not yet been to the appeal court. However, the local administrative court ruled that Mamère's suspension was legal and motivated. Mamère said he would not appeal the ruling (Mamère had already unsuccesfully tried to obtain an injunction from the court, and then had appealed the case to the Conseil d'État; both had ruled that an injunction was not justified on grounds of urgency).
On May 11, 2004, Socialist Party leader François Hollande announced that he would ask his party to file a draft law which would render such marriages unequivocally legal. However, other party leaders, such as his partner Ségolène Royal and former prime minister Lionel Jospin, disapproved publicly of same-sex marriages.
See also
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