By Angelique Chrisafis in Paris, guardian.co.uk, 14 Dec., 2012

[....] The French president, François Hollande, is under fire for his proposals to legalise gay marriage, as street demonstrations illustrate the deep divisions in society. Religious groups and the right have led thousands in protest rallies, while equality campaigners and several leftwing MPs have warned that the law will be shamefully inadequate in not allowing equal gay parenting rights or medically assisted procreation.

The Socialist president had hoped that the gay marriage bill, to be debated in parliament in January, would be a milestone in social progress: a key reform with his name on it, to detract from the negative headlines about the financial crisis. But French society is tearing itself apart over the issue with an intensity that was not anticipated by the government, and Hollande has been accused of not taking a strong enough stand to force full equality on to the French statute book. [.....]