Gay marriage 'null and void' says French PM

A gay couple said “I do” today for the first time in France, days after the prime minister said such a union would be legally “null and void.”

Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier, one dressed in a pinstriped gray suit the other in white, on the steps of the town hall in Begles, near Bordeaux.

The interior minister quickly said that the mayor who performed the civil marriage ceremony, Noel Mamere of the Green party, would be sanctioned.

Mamere is known as a political provocateur. He wore the blue, white and red ribbons – France’s national colours – that are conferred on mayors as representatives of the state and worn during all official functions.

He said his decision to marry the two men despite warnings from the prime minister, justice minister and others was a gesture in the name of tolerance.

Cameras were trained on the couple during the ceremony as about 500 demonstrators, some for and some against the marriage, stood outside, cheering or denouncing the union.

Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said the mayor of Begles had broken the law and would face sanctions.

Mamere “has decided, in contradiction with the rules of the civil code … to celebrate a marriage between two people of the same sex…

“He has, therefore, broken the law.

De Villepin added: “It is not a question of entering the heart of the debate. But I intend to have the law and the authority of the state respected.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin said that France’s civil code “neither permits nor authorizes the marriage of two people of the same sex.”

“It would be an illegal manifestation, null in law and null in effect.”

Mamere risks a month’s suspension from his post as mayor and a fine, according to the Justice Ministry and the prime minister’s office.