By Gudrun Schultz
FRANCE, June 23, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – More than half of France’s adult population is opposed to same sex “marriage,” and almost two thirds don’t support adoption or artificial procreation for homosexual couples, a new poll has revealed.
Angus Reid Global Scan reported today on a survey conducted by TNS-Sofres, published in Le Nouvel Observateur. The poll found that 51 per cent of those questioned were opposed to same-sex “marriage.” 45 per cent said they favoured same-sex “marriage.”
Support for the adoption of children by homosexual couples was even lower. 60 per cent of respondents said they opposed the adoption of children by a homosexual couple of either gender. The number was slightly higher, at 62 per cent opposed, for the adoption of children by a male homosexual couple. 35 per cent were in favour of adoption by a male homosexual couple, and 36 per cent were in favour of homosexual adoption by a couple of either gender.
A majority of those surveyed also opposed the use of artificial insemination or surrogate motherhood by homosexual couples in order to have children. 54 per cent of respondents said they were opposed to the use of artificial insemination by a female couple (42 per cent were in favour).
63 per cent, the highest response indicated, were opposed to a male couple resorting to the artificial insemination of a woman in order to have children. Just 33 per cent were in favour.
A report commissioned by the President of the French National Assembly, released last February, concluded that homosexual “marriage” and adoption by homosexual couples, and medically assisted procreation for homosexual couples should not be legal activities. After a yearlong investigation, the commission decided to act “to affirm and protect children’s rights and the primacy of those rights over adults’ aspirations.”
The two foremost contenders for next year’s presidency election are sharply split in their views towards social matters. Ségolène Royal of the Socialist Party, at 30 per cent support in the latest polls, has declared that if elected President her party will legalize homosexual “marriage” and homosexual adoption of children.
Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy of the centre-right Union for a Popular Movement—slightly ahead in the polls with 32 per cent support—has called for a re-examination of the relationship between church and state in the country, saying churches should be eligible to receive charitable funding from the government.
The TNS-Sofres poll was conducted in face-to-face interviews with 1,000 French adults, from June 7 to June 9, 2006. No margin of error was provided.
View Angus-Reid coverage:
https://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/12313
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
France’s Choice for President: Gay “Marriage” or Re-Marriage Between Church and State
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061906.html
French Government Report Says No to Homosexual “Marriage”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/feb/06021601.html