FRANCE: Former President Sarkozy Calls For Repeal Of Same-Sex Marriage Law

Former French president Nicholas Sarkozy, who is expected to run for president again in 2017, yesterday called for the repeal of same-sex marriage during a debate organized by a far-right group. Via the Guardian:

Referring to the “mariage pour tous” or “marriage for all” legislation passed by France’s Socialist government last year, he said it needed “rewriting from top to bottom”. His comments prompted catcalls from the 3,000-strong audience of the group Common Sense, and cries of “Repeal! Repeal!”. Sarkozy, appearing rattled, responded: “If you’d rather one says repeal the law and make another one … in French, that’s saying the same thing. It comes to the same result. “But hey, if that makes you happy, then frankly, it doesn’t cost much.” Sarkozy went on to say that he was in favour of some form of marriage for same-sex couples, but something different from that for heterosexuals, and that he opposed surrogacy for same-sex couples. The same-sex marriage legislation is known officially as the Taubira law after the justice minister Christiane Taubira who oversaw its introduction. “It’s no use being against surrogacy if you don’t repeal the Taubira law,” Sarkozy said to cheers and applause.

Sarkozy has been married three times. He has declared that "the roots of France are essentially Christian" and has advocated reducing the separation between church and state. In July of this year, he was arrested and charged with corruption on allegations that he interfered with an investigation seeking to prove that he "received up to €50 million in illegal campaign financing from the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi." He faces a possible ten year prison sentence and his arrest was the first time in modern history that a former French president had ever been in police custody.

The viciously anti-gay Manif Pour Tous, whose movement is supported by local neo-Nazis and NOM's Brian Brown, is celebrating Sarkozy's declaration with dozens of tweets.

Headline Of The Day

According to the Breitbarters, "many Jews" are going to flee France because they won't have Sarkozy to protect them from Iran's missiles. Or something. And by "many Jews" they mean the 5000 people who attended a street fair hosted by Israel on the day of the election. There are about a half-million Jews in France.

FRANCE: Polls Favor Gay-Friendly Socialist In Today's Presidential Election

Fascist National Front leader and third place finisher Marine Le Pen refused to endorse Sarkozy, leading many to believe that Socialist Francois Hollande, who supports same-sex marriage, will win by five or six points. We'll know how today's runoff election turned out very shortly. Meanwhile here's some raw video of the two finalists making their votes this morning.

FRANCE: Sarkozy Calls For End To European Union's Open Borders

This is how Sarkozy is going after Marine Le Pen's fascist supporters. The French presidential runoff is in two weeks.

FRANCE: Pro-Gay Socialist Edges Sarkozy In First Round Of Presidential Election

Pro-gay Socialist Party candidate Francois Hollande (left) has edged incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in the first round of France's presidential election. Hollande has expressed support for same-sex marriage in France, Sarkozy is strongly opposed.

The winner of yesterday’s first round was the Socialist candidate François Hollande, with 28-29 per cent, who will contest the run-off against President Nicolas Sarkozy, who, with 25-27 per cent, became the first incumbent president to lose at the first hurdle. A victory in the May 6 run-off would make Mr Hollande, 57, France’s first Socialist leader to be elected since François Mitterrand in 1988. Last night he pledged to unite the French after Mr Sarkozy’s divisive first term and declared: “I’m best placed to become next president.” He blamed Mr Sarkozy for the rise of the far-Right, saying his “discourse over the last few months has played into the hands of the far-Right”. Confounding predictions of high abstention records, around 80 per cent of France’s 44.5 million-strong electorate turned out to vote for the 10 candidates.

Playing the spoiler was fascist National Front candidate Marine Le Pen, who shocked observers by taking almost 20% of the vote, mostly from previous supporters of Sarkozy. Followed the announcement of the results, Sarkozy issued a plea to Le Pen's backers by mentioning her hot-button issue, Muslim immigration to France:

“This anxiety, this suffering, I know them, I understand them,” he said. “They concern our borders, outsourcing, control of immigration, work, security, for them and their families. I know that in this fast moving world, the concern of our patriots to preserve their way of life is the key issue in this election.”

Election watchers say the final result may be in Le Pen's hands, should she decide to throw her support to either of the finalists.

French Prez Wants To Ban Burqas

President Nicolas Sarkozy has joined a coalition of French legislators calling for a ban on the wearing of burqas.

"The issue of the burqa is not a religious issue, it is a question of freedom and of women's dignity," Sarkozy said. "The burqa is not a religious sign, it is a sign of the subjugation, of the submission of women. I want to say solemnly that it will not be welcome on our territory." His remarks won strong applause from legislators during a wide-ranging speech at the grandiose Palace of Versailles. France, home to Europe's largest Muslim minority, is divided over how to reconcile secular values with religious freedom. Many see the burqa as an infringement of women's rights and say it is being imposed on many Muslim women by fundamentalists. "We cannot accept that some women in our country are prisoners behind a grille, cut off from social life, deprived of their identity," Sarkozy said.

Muslim activists warned that the ban could backfire, trapping women in their homes if they could not appear in public in a burqa.