Opposition to homosexual marriage might not be found only in the Catholic and right wing community as the ever faultless BBC notes. Rather, opposition to homosexual marriage might also be found in the Muslim communities as well. Frequently the West equates France with Paris and its immediate environs. However, the truth is far more complex. France has its religious adherents in the bylanes, the country side, the banlieus which are all far from Paris' madding crowd. The fact remains that many parts of Europe remain conservative: Poland, Russia, huge tracts of Spain, Italy and France.

340 000 is the police estimation. But the organizers counted 800 000 at least, and some estimates go as far as over a million people from all over the country...

There are many reasons to roppose gay marriage. Here are just a few: 1) Sexual relations in straight marriage involve body parts that God designed for each other, whereas sexual relations in gay marriage involve body parts that God designed for vastly different purposes; 2) God approves of and blesses straight marriage, but He doesn’t even recognize gay “marriage” as being legitimate, because it doesn’t meet the requirements of His definition; 3) straight marriage can fulfill God’s primary purpose for sexual intercourse by producing children to “fill the earth”, whereas homosexual “marriage” cannot; 4) heterosexual marriages last much longer than do homosexual relationships; 5) adults who were raised in gay households are 12 times more likely to self-identify as gay than adults raised in heterosexual households, 6) 58% of the children of lesbians and 33% of the children of gay men self-identified as homosexual as adults (compared to only 2%-3% self-identified adult homosexuals in the general population); and 7) children raised by homosexual parents are more likely than those raised by heterosexual parents to suffer from poor impulse control, depression, suicidal thoughts, require mental health therapy, choose cohabitation, be unfaithful to partners, contract sexually transmitted diseases, be sexually molested, have lower income levels, drink excessively and smoke marijuana. And now we can add to this list that children being raised by same-sex couples are 35% less likely to make normal progress through school than are children being raised by heterosexual married couples (http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13524-012-0169-x/fulltext.html). True equality is a state of being; it is not something that comes by repeating a (false) mantra ad nauseum or passing a law. The state of being of gay marriage when compared to that of straight marriage is one of inequality, not equality.

The rally failed to address the right crowd in France.

Since 1999 France offered PACS pacte civil de solidarité for gay couples, in lieu of marriage. Guess who has them? 94% are straight couples, most with kids. For every 4 marriages in France, there are 3 civil unions. Over half the children in France are born to unwed women. The divorce rate of France is just below that in the US.

Had to laugh at the protest sign: Every child needs a mommy and daddy. No mention of marriage.

Maybe the sign should have read: Every marriage needs a child. Please wait until you are married. Please stay married until the child is grown.

The fact that Catholic churches and Muslim mosques can collect enough undereducated bigots to be bussed in from the hinterlands merely proves that France has its own version of religious nutbags and teabaggers. Probably the first time most of these country folk ever saw Paris. The world is passing them by.

Would James Aist please provide the sources for the data presented.