FRANCE'S FIRST GAY WEDDING STIRS CONTROVERSY: From Reuters

A French mayor has defied Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin by vowing to press ahead with France's first gay wedding, stoking a controversy that is set to rage on after the couple say "I do".

The two men who plan to wed on Saturday in the southwestern town of Begles near Bordeaux have gone into hiding from the media. Conservatives and gay lobby groups plan protests, and extra police have been drafted in for fear of scuffles.

Begles mayor Noele Mamere has been accompanied by two personal body guards for the past month because of threats against him. He shrugged off Raffarin's warning that officials who perform gay weddings would be breaking the law.

"I will go ahead with this marriage," said Mamere, a Green member of parliament who says violating the law is sometimes the only way to change it. "Afterwards, it's up to the public prosecutor to go to court if he wants to annul the marriage."

He said he would lodge an appeal if the wedding between Bertrand Charpentier and Stephane Chapin is annulled and take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary.

"These two men, whom I have moved away from the media glare to stop them from being crushed, are currently in a catastrophic situation because they are scared," Mamere told reporters ahead of what is set to be a public wedding.

Justice Minister Dominique Perben says the marriage will be invalid.

Raffarin told parliament this week that French law does not permit marriage between people of the same sex and said any officials performing gay weddings would "incur the punishment laid out by the law".

Bordeaux's public prosecutor warned Mamere on Thursday he did not have the legal right to conduct the wedding because the address given by one of the men was invalid. Mamere dismissed this as "justice via guerrilla tactics".

The wedding is France's first between a gay couple although laws already allow civil unions between homosexuals. Gays say this is a bad deal in terms of tax, inheritance and parenting rights.

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posted by Eve at 9:41 PM | link

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