BEGLES, France, June 7, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The mayor of a Bordeaux suburb has defied the government by conducting the country’s first homosexual “wedding” Saturday. Noel Mamere, mayor of Begles, despite a warning from government officials that the ceremony was illegal and he would be subject to prosecution, “married” two men, a nurse and a shop worker. Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin told Mamere, “If such a ceremony takes place, it cannot be called a marriage. It would be an illegal ceremony, null and void under the law,” according to news24.com. Raffarin also said that “any elected official who does not respect the law in this matter… will be exposed to the sanctions provided for by law.”
The state prosecutor began a process Monday to nullify the “marriage.” Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin told Europe 1 radio that Mamere is facing sanctions. He faces a potential one-month suspension from mayoral duties as well as a $1,835.50 fine. Cabinet could also take the extraordinary measure to revoke his office. Mamere, also an opposition Green Party member of parliament, proposed new legislation in parliament Monday, to legalize homosexual “marriage.” Civil unions were legalized in France in 2000, however, homosexual activists argue that civil unions do not permit the same privileges such as adoption rights and health and pension benefits as same-sex “marriage” would.