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No news links yet, but Twitter users are reporting that France's Parliament just rejected a same-sex marriage bill by a vote of 293-222. Story developing....
Pop In Stereo tips us:
Avant-garde poet, singer and writer Brigitte Fontaine has once again collaborated with musical icon Grace Jones on an amazing new single titled “Dancefloor.” The single is from the forthcoming album L’un N’empeche pas L’autre.
Copyranter tips us to this possibly NSFW animated safer sex clip from France's AIDES.
Back in the 70's, it was a rare night at a gay bar if you didn't hear at least one Amanda Lear song, especially if you were watching a drag show. Orlando's late legendary Miss P was particularly fond of Lear's smash, Enigma, which lives on my iPod to this day. Here's a new one from Lear, who is either 65 or 71, depending on which source you believe. Similarly, Lear, the longtime muse of Salvador Dali, is either transgender or she's not.
After weeks of demonstrations, yesterday Catholic protesters in France destroyed NYC artist Andres Serrano's classic and controversial Piss Christ. The UK Guardian reports:
The work has previously been shown without incident in France, but for the past two weeks Catholic groups have campaigned against it, culminating in hundreds of people marching through Avignon on Saturday in protest. Just after 11am on Sunday, four people in sunglasses entered the gallery where the exhibition was being held. One took a hammer from his sock and threatened security staff. A guard restrained one man but the remaining members of the group managed to smash an acrylic screen and slash the photograph with what police believe was a screwdriver or ice pick. They then destroyed another photograph, of nuns' hands in prayer.Protests against the photograph had also gained the support of France's far-right National Front party. The gallery's owner says the destroyed artwork will remain on display "so people can see what barbarians can do."
Copyranter reviews this condom ad from France: "Watch our hero's smart-missile solve a complicated math problem, do a book signing, disable a bomb, and paint a nude—ladies swooning at every pants-drop. And of course, it always wears a condom. Because it's SMART. A bit heavy-handed (that's what his chafed dick said last night) for my tastes. The guy looks like a douche."
A 21 year-old French opera star singing in Corsican? Doesn't feel very Eurovision, does it?
Copyranter notes: "That's rather ambitious. Ad is for the Try® brand of lubricating gel. Translation: 'Try intimate lubricant gel.' It ran in [France's] free gay magazine Sensitif."
This morning France's highest court let stand a ban on same-sex marriage. The case had been brought by a lesbian couple raising four children.
In its decision, the Council noted that lawmakers had agreed that the "difference in situations of same-sex couples and couples made up of a man and a woman can justify a difference in treatment concerning family rights." "It is not up to the Constitutional Council to substitute its appreciation for that of lawmakers," the body said. It noted that its job is to simply rule on whether a measure abides by the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the French Constitution. In this case, it ruled that the articles in question are, indeed, "in conformity with the constitution." Cestino and Hasslauer have sought the right to wed. "It is not so much about getting married, but about having the right to get married," Cestino, a pediatrician, said in an interview this week. "So, that is what we are asking for: Just to be able, like anyone else, to choose to get married or not."The court's ruling noted that France's parliament is free to make new laws on the issue.
A lesbian couple's challenge to France's marriage laws will be heard this week by the Constitutional Council, the nation's highest court. Pink News reports:
Corinne Cestino and Sophie Haßlau launched the bid in May 2010 at the Tribunal de Grande instance of Reims to question the constitutionality of France’s position on gay marriage. The couple, a paediatrician and an English teacher, have four children and live together in a village outside Reims. They entered into a PACS, a civil union, ten years ago. On 16 November, the Court of Cassation referred the case to the highest constitutional authority in France, citing an “issue of constitutionality”, on Articles 75 and 144 of the Civil Code, which exclude the civil marriage of same sex.A decision is expected by the end of the month. France currently offers civil unions and recognizes the same-sex marriages of foreigners, but not those of French citizens gay-married in other countries.
