Post by pim on Jan 14, 2013 20:45:07 GMT 10
.... makes for strange bedfellows 
The topic?
Same sex marriage
The place?
Paris, France - as the Americans like to say.
The date?
Sunday 13 January 2013
The event?
A demonstration against same sex marriage.
Numbers involved?
Depends on who you speak to. The cops reckon about 350 000 people, but the rally organisers claim up to 800 000. On ABC News Radio today they said the rally was so massive that marchers were still departing from the starting point when the head of the march reached the end point which was the Eiffel Tower. So it was huge.
So who were the demonstrators?
Now this is where it gets interesting. The Catholics were of course represented in a big way. So too were the political conservatives, the French equivalent of the Liberal Party, and the Far Right which is the Front National. All very predictable so far, especially given that the French President happens to be from the Socialist Party so you'd expect the conservative opposition to give support to the opponents of same sex marriage. Mind you in other countries like Holland the conservatives are in fact in many cases gay! And a conservative demand in Holland is that Muslim migrants wishing to take out Dutch citizenship have to pass a test on aspects of Dutch life. For example they have to show an understanding of the fact that gay marriage and the whole gay culture & lifestyle are legal. No, they don't have to become gay!! Just show a bit of understanding and tolerance.
Mentioning Muslims is appropriate because it brings me to the third cohort in the anti same sex demo in Paris. And they were the Muslims! So what is forming in France as an anti François Hollande conservative coalition, with gay marriage as the conservative catalyst, is a "family values" front comprising Catholics, political conservatives and Muslims.
It was always going to happen ...
The topic?
Same sex marriage
The place?
Paris, France - as the Americans like to say.
The date?
Sunday 13 January 2013
The event?
A demonstration against same sex marriage.
Numbers involved?
Depends on who you speak to. The cops reckon about 350 000 people, but the rally organisers claim up to 800 000. On ABC News Radio today they said the rally was so massive that marchers were still departing from the starting point when the head of the march reached the end point which was the Eiffel Tower. So it was huge.
So who were the demonstrators?
Now this is where it gets interesting. The Catholics were of course represented in a big way. So too were the political conservatives, the French equivalent of the Liberal Party, and the Far Right which is the Front National. All very predictable so far, especially given that the French President happens to be from the Socialist Party so you'd expect the conservative opposition to give support to the opponents of same sex marriage. Mind you in other countries like Holland the conservatives are in fact in many cases gay! And a conservative demand in Holland is that Muslim migrants wishing to take out Dutch citizenship have to pass a test on aspects of Dutch life. For example they have to show an understanding of the fact that gay marriage and the whole gay culture & lifestyle are legal. No, they don't have to become gay!! Just show a bit of understanding and tolerance.
Mentioning Muslims is appropriate because it brings me to the third cohort in the anti same sex demo in Paris. And they were the Muslims! So what is forming in France as an anti François Hollande conservative coalition, with gay marriage as the conservative catalyst, is a "family values" front comprising Catholics, political conservatives and Muslims.
It was always going to happen ...
