LE NOUVEL OBSERVATEUR, BFM (France)
PARIS - French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem has condemned the inflammatory language used by the Union of Islamic Organizations in France (UOIF) in opposing gay marriage , including equating same-sex marriage to bestiality.
Vallaud-Belkacem said that it was "obviously an error" of the Union to make such public statements.
Le Nouvel Observateur reports that UOIF posted a long statement against gay marriage on its website Wednesday that stated: "If marriage between two people of the same sex becomes a norm, then all claims of equality, even the most unseemly, could one day become the norm out of the same principal," the organization wrote. "How will people be able to delegitimize bestiality and polyandry?"
Je crois que le pire dans le communiqué de l'UOIF, c'est qu'il craint la polyandrie et pas la polygynie. Sexistes jusque dans le graveleux
— Jérôme Hourdeaux (@JeromeHourdeaux) November 15, 2012
[I think the worst bit in UOIF's statement is that it fears polyandry and not polygamy. Sexist and indecent.]
UOIF, which also has close links to the Muslim Brotherhood, also added that everyone should understand "the consequences that it could have on society, if this new form of marriage and parenthood is legalized."
Speaking to France's BFM news channel, Vallaud-Belkacem said that the language used by the Union was not only "terrible" for the LGBT community, but for society as a whole.
President François Hollande's government has recently drafted a bill on "marriage for all" that could allow same-sex couples to get married in France as early as 2013.
However, the President's first real proposal for societal change since coming into power in May has been met with fierce criticism from political and religious figures.
A same-sex wedding in the Netherlands (photo - Jeff PW)
