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After Sarkozy's Defeat, Will France Be Next To Legalize Gay Marriage?

During the just concluded campaign, France’s incoming Socialist President François Hollande had vowed to push through gay marriage during his first year in office. Conservative Catholic groups are already gearing up for a fight.

2011 Gay Pride in Toulouse, France (Guillaume Paumier)
2011 Gay Pride in Toulouse, France (Guillaume Paumier)

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

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food / travel

Legalizing Moonshine, A Winning Political Stand In Poland

Moonshine, typically known as “bimber” in Poland, may soon be legalized by the incoming government. There is a mix of tradition, politics and economics that makes homemade booze a popular issue to campaign on.

Photo of an empty vodka bottle on the ground in Poland

Bottle of vodka laying on the ground in Poland

Leszek Kostrzewski

WARSAWIt's a question of freedom — and quality. Poland's incoming coalition government is busy negotiating a platform for the coming years. Though there is much that still divides the Left, the liberal-centrist Civic Koalition, and the centrist Third Way partners, there is one area where Poland’s new ruling coalition is nearly unanimous: moonshine.

The slogan for the legalization of moonshine (known in Poland as "bimber") was initially presented by Michał Kołodziejczak, the leader of Agrounia, a left-wing socialist political movement in Poland that has qualified to be part of the incoming Parliament.

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”Formerly so-called moonshine was an important element of our cultural landscape, associated with mystery, breaking norms, and freedom from the state," Kołodziejczak said. "It was a reason to be proud, just like the liqueurs that Poles were famous for in the past.”

The president of Agrounia considered the right to make moonshine as a symbol of "subjectivity" that farmers could enjoy, and admitted with regret that in recent years it had been taken away from citizens. “It's also about a certain kind of freedom, to do whatever you want on your farm," Kołodziejczak adds. "This is subjectivity for the farmer. Therefore, I am in favor of providing farmers with the freedom to consume this alcohol for their own use.”

A similar viewpoint was aired by another Parliament member. “We will stop pretending that Polish farmers do not produce moonshine for their own use, such as for weddings,” the representative said, pointing out the benefits of controlling the quality. “Just like they produce slivovitz, which Poland is famous for. It's high time they did it legally.”

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