France Rejects Same-Sex Marriage

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....

Brigette Fontaine - Dancefloor

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.

Safer Sex Park

Copyranter tips us to this possibly NSFW animated safer sex clip from France's AIDES.

Amanda Lear - Chinese Walk

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.

FRANCE: Andres Serrano's Piss Christ Destroyed By Catholic Protesters

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."

Eurovision 2011: France's Amaury Vassili

A 21 year-old French opera star singing in Corsican? Doesn't feel very Eurovision, does it?

This Is An Ad For Lube

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."

FRANCE: Constitutional Court Rules Ban On Same-Sex Marriage Is Legal

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.

FRANCE: Constitutional Council To Hear Same-Sex Marriage Case

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.

French Senate Bans Burqas

Today the French Senate voted nearly unanimously* to ban the wearing of burqas in public, but the bill must pass constitutional review before it becomes law.

The Senate voted 246 to 1 Tuesday in favor of the bill, which has already passed in the lower chamber, the National Assembly. It will need President Nicolas Sarkozy's signature. Legislative leaders said they wanted the Constitutional Council to examine it. "This law was the object of long and complex debates," the Senate president, Gerard Larcher, and National Assembly head Bernard Accoyer said in a joint statement explaining their move. They said in a joint statement that they want to be certain there is "no uncertainty" about it conforming to the constitution.

France's legislature is the first to vote on such a law, but similar measures are in the works in several other countries in Western Europe.

*Socialist, Communist, and Green party members abstained from the vote, as they did when the measure was presented to the Assembly last month.

Tip It, Kathleen

Self-serve wine fill-up stations have arrived in France's supermarkets. BYOB.

Attack Of The Flash Mob

France Moves To Ban The Burqa

France's lower legislative body has nearly unanimously approved a bill that bans women from wearing burqas or face veils.

The vote was 335 to 1. The measure must still go to the French Senate before it becomes law. The Senate is expected to vote on it in the week of September 20. Amnesty International immediately condemned the vote. "A complete ban on the covering of the face would violate the rights to freedom of expression and religion of those women who wear the burqa or the niqab in public as an expression of their identity or beliefs," said John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International's expert on discrimination in Europe. French people back the ban by a margin of more than four to one, the Pew Global Attitudes Project found in a survey this spring. Some 82 percent of people polled approved of a ban, while 17 percent disapproved. That was the widest support the Washington-based think tank found in any of the five countries it surveyed. Clear majorities also backed burqa bans in Germany, Britain and Spain, while two out of three Americans opposed it, the survey found.

The bill calls for a fine of €150 and/or a citizenship course for violating the ban. Men who force women to cover their faces in public could be punished with up to a year in prison, should the ban become law.

France Outlaws Insults

The French parliament has approved a law that calls insults "psychological violence" and makes it a crime to repeatedly insult someone. The law is primarily meant to protect victims of domestic violence.

"We have introduced an important measure here, which recognises psychological violence, because it isn't just blows (that hurt) but also words," Nadine Morano, the minister for family affairs, told the lower house of parliament. Those found guilty of breaking the new law will face up to three years in jail and a 75,000 euro (£60,840) fine. "The judge could (also) take into consideration letters, SMSs or repetitive messages, because one knows that psychological violence is made up of insults," Ms Morano said. Some critics of the new bill say the crime will be very difficult to prove. They also criticise the government for getting involved in private matters like arguments and fights between married or cohabiting couples.

Convictions are expected to be difficult to obtain without physical evidence.

Gay Orangina Ad Banned In France

Perhaps looking to capitalize on the publicity earned McDonald's recent gay-positive ad in France, Orangina has created the below clip. But this one has been judged "too polemic" to air, according to the company's agency.

(Tipped by Maxime at Yagg.com)

National Gay & Lesbian Chamber Of Commerce Cuts Ties With McDonald's

The National Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has sent a blistering letter (PDF) to McDonald's cutting their ties with them, perhaps partially in response to COO Donald Thompson's "I am a Christian" statement about the company's ad in France.

We strongly believe that McDonald’s plan to distance itself from LGBT and other diverse business segments, coupled with the release of the French TV ad, is ill advised and counter to the spirit of good business and sound ethics. We sincerely hope that McDonald’s will reconsider its position and that the company will again show its support for LGBT people, our families and our businesses -- not just where it is politically expedient, but around the globe.

Barring a significant change in policy on the part of McDonald’s, please consider this letter as official notice that the NGLCC will not accept future support or membership by McDonald’s or any of its subsidiaries. Additionally, please note that we will answer any questions about this communication, the past relationship between our organizations or any other questions by members of the NGLCC, the media or other interested parties with nothing less than factual and accurate information based on our communications and experiences with McDonald’s and its representatives.

The NGLCC says they represent the interests of about 1.4 million LGBT-owned business in the United States. Read their entire letter.

McDonald's COO: I'm A Christian And That Gay Ad Will Never Play In America

A gay-positive McDonald's ad running in France has made international news and brought the company condemnation from American evangelists. But the Christianists needn't worry, McDonald's Chief Operating Officer Donald Thompson says that commercial will never run in the United States.

I've never shied away from the fact that I'm a Christian. I have my own personal beliefs and I don't impose those on anybody else. I've been in countries where the majority of the people in the country don't believe in a deity or they may be atheist. Or the majority of the country is Muslim. Or it may be the majority is much younger skewed. So when you look at all these differences, it's not that I'm to be the judge or the jury relative to right or wrong. Having said that, at McDonald's, there are core values we stand for and the world is getting much closer. So we have a lot of conversations. We're going to make some mistakes at times. (We talk) about things that may have an implication in one part of the world and may be the cultural norm in another part of the world. And those are things that, yes, we're going to learn from. But, you're right, that commercial won't show in the United States.

Come As You Are, Betch

(Tipped by JMG reader Eric)

Christian Group Lashes Out At McDonald's Over Gay Ad In France

Ten days ago I showed you a gay-positive McDonald's ad from France. Since then the clip has gotten over 1M views on YouTube and has been featured in the mainstream media. And right on cue, American wingnuts are screaming.

"We see McDonald's decision to backhand hundreds of millions of traditional family values people," Bill Johnson, President of the American Decency Association, told LifeSiteNews, "and align themselves with promoting the godless behavior of a few." This is not McDonald's first homosexualist activism. In 2008, McDonalds paid $20,000 dollars to become an official "organizational ally and corporate partner" of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (NGLCC). In the same year, McDonald's also helped sponsor the San Francisco Gay Pride Parade; Richard Ellis, vice president of communications for McDonald's USA, was also appointed to the board of directors of the NGLCC.

Yet because of a boycott started by the American Family Association on July 3rd of that year, Richard Ellis left the board of the NGLCC and McDonald's said that it did not plan to renew its membership with the NGLCC. Bill Johnson called the new television spot "one of the most bewildering kinds of advertisements when you consider the fact that so many Americans across this country have done business with McDonald's."

The American Decency Association is suggesting a phone campaign of complaints to McDonald's U.S. headquarters. Go here if you'd like to offer praise instead.

McDonald's Goes Gay For France

JMG reader Andre tips us from France to a new gay-positive ad from McDonald's. He provides this translation:

Boy looks at class picture. Cell phone rings.

BOY: Hello. Yeah, I was thinking of you, too - I'm looking at our class picture. I miss you. Have to go, my father's here. Love you.

FATHER: Is that your class picture ? I looked just like you when I was your age. The girls were all over me! Too bad there are only boys in your class, you could be a big success!

ON SCREEN: Come as you are. McDonald's.

It's really kind of sweet. Stand by for the typical American wingnuts to lose their shit over this.