PARIS – Following Barack Obama's surprise public support for gay marriage, incoming French President François Hollande may be poised to push through legislation to give same-sex couples in France the right for the first time to marry.

During his presidential campaign, Socialist candidate Hollande declared his support both for same-sex marriage and adoption right for LGBT couples. He vowed to pursue the issue in early 2013 if he won.

After he is sworn into office Tuesday, Hollande will be watched closely both by gay rights activists as well as a core of traditionalist Catholic groups virulently opposed to same-sex marriage.

On Sunday, some 1,500 traditionalist Catholics close to the far-right leaning Institut Civitas religious group, gathered in central Paris, declaring same-sex marriage "deeply anti-Christian, anti-family and anti-national." Marginal as these groups may be, they still echo a point of view shared by many believers.

Young Catholic priests from Versailles, west of Paris, declared on the influential website Padreblog : "We hope that, now that he's become the president of all the French, François Hollande will be able to see the bigger picture, and realize that his campaign promises should remain campaign promises."

Since 2001, Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, and Sweden have allowed same-sex couples to marry. Same-sex marriage has been a longstanding point of conflict in France, though the moment may be ripe. In June 2011, a poll found that 63% of the population favored same-sex marriage rights.

Offering additional momentum was the news last week of the surprise public support for gay marriage rights by U.S. President Barack Obama, though in the United States such decisions are decided on the state level.

Read more from Le Monde in French. Full article by Stéphanie Le Bars

Photo – Guillaume Paumier

*This is a digest item, not a direct translation