France’s first gay marriage, officiated in the Town Hall of Montpellier in front of hundreds of people, was as much the culmination of bitter political battle as the fruits of a great love. That much was clear as Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau sat listening hand in hand to the speech of Montpellier mayor Hélène Mandroux, who stood before a portrait of President François Hollande and told them, moments before they took their vows, “Our society cannot have any prejudices.” In a hall jammed with politicians, photographers and television crews, Mandroux called the wedding, broadcast live on French networks, “a symbol for France,” and said, “the very fact that marriage has been opened to everybody has triggered a wave of hatred and dissent.”
That is an understatement. For months Paris streets have been racked with violent clashes that have drawn enraged crowds on to the streets to protest against a central policy of Hollande’s Socialist Party, which vowed in its election campaign a year ago to legalize gay marriage. At times the demonstrations have been equal in size and ferocity to the riots during the mid-2000s over pension and labor reforms. Even after the French Senate passed the law legalizing gay marriage two weeks ago the protests did not let up. On Monday, hundreds of thousands of people poured onto the esplanade in front of the city’s Invalides dome, clashing with riot police, who were posted around Paris neighborhoods in bullet-proof vests and helmets, as they have been numerous times during the past several months.
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