France will maintain its ban on gay marriage after the constitutional court ruled that a lesbian couple with four children do not have the right to marry.
The ruling comes on the same day that a TNS Sofres opinion poll found 58 percent of French people questioned were in favour of gay marriage.
Essentially the court said that parliament should decide if the ban should be overturned, and not the constitutional authority.
“Marriage is the only solution in terms of protecting our children, sharing parental authority, settling inheritance problems and eventual custody if one of us were to die,“ Corinne Cestino and Sophie Hasslauer told AFP before the ruling.
President Nicolas Sarkozy opposed gay marriage, while the opposition Socialists support it. The couple already have a low-level civil union known as a ‘PACS’ in France. w
Tags: Corinne Cestino. Sophie Hasslauer, France gay marriage, France PACS
