A huge
demonstration against Government plans to legalise same-sex marriage took place
in Paris yesterday drawing 800,000 people from all parts of
France.

The protest
is the biggest Paris has seen since 1984. The ‘Demo for All’ was led by
comedienne ‘Frigide Barjot’.

The main message of the protestors is that children deserve
a mother and a father and that same-sex marriage threatens this right and that it
denies the sexual complementarity of men and women.

Opinion polls currently show that 56pc of French people
support same-sex marriage but this is down 10 points on earlier polls.

The newly elected Government of President Francois Hollande
has promised to introduce same-sex marriage but the unexpected size of the
opposition has caused them to amend plans to extend rights to lesbian couples
to have children through assisted reproduction.

Religious leaders, including the Catholic bishops, led the
early opposition to the plan. A paper opposing the proposed law written by
France’s Chief Rabbi Gilles Bernheim, won praise from Pope Benedict at
Christmas.

Opponents want the Government to hold a referendum on the
issue rather than pass it through the legislature.

Speaking before the protest, Ms
Barjot told journalists: “We’re all born of a man and a woman, but the law
will say the opposite tomorrow. It will say a child is born of a man and a
man.”

“We’ve
coordinated this demonstration neither with the Church nor with the
parishes,” Barjot said.