Badpuppy Gay Today |
Tuesday, 28 April 1998 |
MANY FRENCH MAYORS OPPOSE PARTNERS MEASURE About 12,000 of France's 36,000 mayors reportedly have signed a petition opposing legislation that would let same-sex couples register their relationships at city hall and receive many of the benefits of marriage. The mayors fear they will be forced to perform gay ceremonies if the "Social Union Contract" proposal becomes law. French mayors function as the municipal registrar for births, deaths and marriages, and in smaller towns, the mayor often handles such matters personally. The petition is being circulated by Felletin Mayor Michel Penton who founded the center-right Union for French Democracy party 20 years ago. He says the mayors are "anxious to preserve the family as the natural and fundamental element of every society." "In our sick French society, the two things that are still healthy, the family and the town council, are now being threatened," Penton told fellow mayors. "It may be that this new form of marriage, which you will have to officiate at, clashes with your conscience. ... Behind these homosexual 'families,' a sad parody of a true family, other liaisons will rush in, beginning with polygamous marriages." The Campaign for the Social Union Contract accused Penton of cooking up numbers and demanded he release the names of the 12,000 signatories. "Maybe some mayors from small villages have signed up, but not 12,000," spokesman Paul Pouliquen told Reuters. "We are planning legal action against him for spreading false information." GRAVE FOUND OF NAZI DOCTOR WHO EXPERIMENTED ON GAYS The grave of a Nazi doctor who performed experiments on gay men in concentration camps has been located in Argentina's Britanico Cemetery. Historical records show that Carl Peter Vaernet, a Dane, castrated and implanted hormones in homosexuals in attempts to alter their sexual orientation at the Buchenwald and Neuengamme camps. After World War II, he escaped to South America without being tried for his crimes; he died in 1965. Vaernet was tracked down by a Danish gay activist who used the Internet to locate Vaernet's grandson in Argentina. Contributing to this week's report: Mads Christensen, Jess Durfee, Stephen Hunt. |
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