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On the 7th of September,
the French government adopted the law to legalize homosexual marriage. However,
if the National Assembly and the Senate office also agree in January 2013,
France will be the twelfth country which allows two people of the same sex to
get married.
This change has not
happened without any controversy. In a College of Virginia, this news also represents
a new revolution for some students, similar to the current debate in the world.
T.R, president
of GLOW (Gay, Lesbian Or Whatever) hopes that “the United States will
understand that the world is moving forward without them and they need to catch
up to France, and other countries, in regards to the rights of their citizens.”
Even if France
has to wait until the 13th of January to be sure about homosexual marriage,
Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal,
South Africa, Spain, Sweden had already recognize as legal the marriage of
same-sex relationships.
C.L, a French
student realizes that for a long time gay marriage has been a big controversial
issue; according to her “it was a question that never had an answer, because we
think that it’s like religion, abortion, you’re the only one who is concerned.”
For her, “it depends on an individual belief; you cannot generalize what you
think of abortion. It’s not a society level but an individual matter.”
C.L and T.R are
both aware that the perception regarding homosexual marriage is not the same
from a country to another.
“I think it is
definitely a cultural issue,” stated T.R. “Americans cling to religion more
than Europeans do, and the reason for the suppression of gay marriage is solely
based on these religious ideas that Americans have.”
However, several
states in the United States also allow homosexual marriage. Now, T.R expects
that the next step “would be a national admission that discrimination against
gay marriage is unconstitutional.”
This change is
not only a change in the American perception concerning relationships, but also
in the cultural outlook, notably in television series and movies, like Grey’s
Anatomy or Brokeback Mountain. Regarding to this new look about homosexual on
TV shows, for C.L, “The United States is trying to prepare its citizens to
accept a major change: welcoming gay marriage. Of course this is a difficult
task and there is still a long way to go before reaching that objective. “
Homosexual
marriage is obviously a change in people minds, which represents an obstacle
for some. A College student, who wants to remain anonymous, stated that “Gay
relationship is against nature not only based on religion but also based on
science.God has created Adam and Eve, a Man and a Woman,” stated this student. According
to her “a man and a woman are complementary. Women give life but they would not
be able to do so without men. Therefore, the union of two people from the same
sex would lead to the end of humanity.”
According to T.R
it is because “people who grew up in households, that espouse homophobic views
based solely on religious belief, will not be in support of homosexual rights,
and those statistics vary from state to state and country to country. Things
would be quite different if people were not in a mindset of what is sinful”.
Before talking about
homosexual marriage, gays relationships have also been met with opposition for
decades. In France, for C.L “this is a
taboo subject, people do not really talk about it, and apart from associations,
French people are not committed. For instance, there are no gay clubs at
college level in France whereas here each American college has one. “
Regarding the
recent reelection of President Obama, the latter may continue to be an ally in
the cause for equality. For T.R, “it may be too much to ask that he legalizes
same-sex marriage nationally, but anything is possible. Hopefully with the
election out of the way we can continue to move forward.”
