Tens of thousands demand repeal of same-sex marriage law in Paris

Thousands of people, including many children, took to the streets of Paris to protest against marriage equality in France on Sunday.

According to an official count, around 25,000 people marched to the city’s Trocadero Plaza, near the Eiffel Tower, asserting the primacy of the “traditional family” and condemning surrogacy and abortion.

They held up signs that read “A father and a mother – it’s hereditary” and waved pink and blue flags that depicted a heterosexual family.

Ten topless members of the feminist group Femen, who shouted “hatred is not a family value!” within the crowd, were detained.

The event was organised by the group ManifpourTous, which aims to protect “the family,” and was supported by a number of right-wing leaders.

The protest comes ahead of next year’s presidential elections and is seen as a call for conservative candidates to campaign to repeal same-sex marriage legislation.

Another group held a much smaller pro-LGBT counter protest in which same-sex couples kissed and held up placards with messages such as “Love Always Wins” and “Make Love Not War”.

In May 2013, amidst a wave of massive anti-gay protests, France became the ninth European country and the 14th in the world to legalise marriage equality for all of its citizens.

The law, which also legalised adoption by gay couples, divided France and radicalised the right wing. LGBT rights groups and police documented an ensuing dramatic spike in hate crime attacks against gay people.