00:00 23rd of April 2013 marked a turning point for French society as lawmakers voted in favour
00:12 of legalising same-sex marriage.
00:15 The left-wing MPs celebrated their victory, chanting the word "Equality" through the
00:19 National Assembly.
00:21 Former French President François Hollande had made legalising gay marriage a campaign
00:25 pledge during his election campaign in 2012.
00:28 We are all convinced France is France when it takes a step forward in terms of equal
00:32 rights which include same-sex marriage.
00:36 Former Justice Minister Christiane Taubira introduced the legislation in late 2012, but
00:41 the issue divided lawmakers, sparking over 136 hours of heated debate in the lower house
00:47 of parliament.
00:49 You are the decadent ones because you would even approve of a three-person marriage.
00:54 Ten years on, the former Justice Minister who fought passionately for the bill looks
00:58 back at the tense and often virulent debate.
01:01 The ferocity of the opposition was quite worrying to me.
01:04 I was surprised to see such homophobia being channelled against the rights of other citizens.
01:11 The same-sex marriage law also triggered fierce opposition on the streets.
01:15 For weeks, protesters marched in French cities to oppose the bill, leading to a spike in
01:20 homophobic attacks across the country.
01:23 We have nothing against homosexuals.
01:25 We have some great homosexual friends.
01:28 But two homosexuals can never have a child.
01:32 Eventually the bill was signed into law by President François Hollande.
01:36 One month after the law came into effect, Hottin and Vincent Boileau were the first
01:40 same-sex couple to get married.
01:42 Since then, 70,000 couples followed.
01:44 (gentle music)
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