NOM BLOG

Gay Voices Against Gay Marriage: Jean Pier

 

As we've written about before, there is a growing chorus of gay people in France who oppose President Hollande's proposal to legalize gay marriage.

Here is a second voice -- Jean Pier -- explaining his views (we also offer an approximate English translation by a French-speaking supporter):

I am Jean-Pier and I'm forty-nine years old.

I am a documentary author for TV and I'm homosexual.

What is your opinion of the proposed law?

The law they're proposing, this marriage for all; I have to take pause. I have to wonder, "who's this law for?" I say to myself, "is it made for homosexuals?" I live in Provence and I work in Paris. I know very few homosexuals who wish to marry beyond the PACS (civil unions) they already have. In fact the number of people in PACS unions in France, couples of the same sex, is minimal. Therefore who's this law for? If it's for the 5,000 people who live in the district of Le Marrais, then it's just a militant act. But behind it all, it must be a question of the child.

Freedom, equality for all?

Me, I'm not part of any political party or any association. For me, the question behind this, the fundamental issue, is the child. Among the responses I've heard, I've had this business of freedom and equality. Then I pose this question: What of the freedom and equality of the child? The child won't have its equality vis-a-vis its friends in school. Its peers may have divorced and blended families, but they have, at least, a father and mother.

What about adopting?

Twenty five years ago -- remember, I'm 49 -- I truly wondered about having a child. Like everyone else, I wanted to have a child; it was a question of transmitting my heritage. But then I realized very quickly that if I were going to have a child that way, it would be for the wrong reasons.

What alternatives?

The desire for a child, for me, is fulfilled. I am a writer and creator. I create stories for children. That's a way to address children and respect them. That's an act of love for them.

Final thoughts?

Finally, when I look at this proposed law, I conclude that it's a law for gays, but not for homosexuals. I do not want to support it.

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