Main | Tuesday, April 23, 2013

TODAY: Final French Marriage Vote, Police Place Water Cannons Outside Parliament
UPDATE: The Final Debate Has Begun
UPDATE II: Marriage PASSES 331-225!!!

Today at about 11:30AM New York City time, the French National Assembly will make the final legislative vote on same-sex marriage.  As the anti-gay protests have grown increasingly violent and especially in light of yesterday's death threat against the president of the Assembly, police are taking "extraordinary" security measures.
Paris police have stepped up security ahead of a final parliamentary vote on a bill that will make France the fourteenth country to legalise same-sex marriage. Police say legions of officers and a small battery of water cannons were at France's National Assembly on Tuesday to prevent a repeat of previous street violence.  A spokesman for the police union UNSA, Christophe Crepin, said the extraordinary security was in place to protect the city's gay community. In recent weeks, attacks against gay couples have spiked and some legislators have received threats, including one who got a gunpowder-filled envelope.
The bill is expected pass by the same wide margin as the first vote in the Assembly.  Watch the vote live here.  I'll push this post back to the top later this morning.

UPDATE: Things are already getting quite heated. Hit the second link.

UPDATE II: The final vote was 331-225.

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