From the Iona Institute newsletter:
LAST Sunday Paris witnessed what must have been the biggest and most extraordinary demonstration ever in favour of the traditional family.
According to an article in Le Figaro an astounding 800,000 people took part. It was fantastically well organised.
By design, the colours pink and blue predominated,to emphasise the two sexes. People were given pink and blue balloons, pink and blue banners, pink and blue shirts to emphasise that the sexes are different, that it takes a man and a woman to conceive a child and that children ideally should be raised by their own mother and father.
The demonstration told the world that marriage exists to recognise all of these facts and that permitting same-sex marriage would contradict them, deny them or treat them as unimportant.
Without doubt it was the biggest, the best, and the most focused lesson on the nature of marriage that any country has ever seen. Taking over much of the centre of Paris for several hours, it was also good humoured, colourful and a piece of street theatre every bit as much as it was a demonstration. The organisers and all who took part deserve huge congratulations from everyone, everywhere who cares about marriage and the family.
What was also novel about it is the fact that it was led by unexpected people. The chief spokesperson was a French comedienne named ‘Frigide Barjot’ who in no way fits the stereotype of the uptight defender of tradition.
Another leader was a gay atheist named Xavier Bongibault.
Several other gay men acted as spokespeople. This, of course, did a huge amount to counter the cheap and all too commonplace accusation that anyone who is against gay marriage must be ‘homophobic’.
The French Government is nonetheless determined to press ahead with its plan to legalise same-sex marriage. However, if there was a referendum on the subject there is a very good chance it would be defeated because more and more people would become acquainted with the excellent arguments in favour of man/woman marriage.
But no matter what happens, those who organised and took part in Sunday’s demonstration can be proud that they made a resounding statement in favour of the deepest needs of children that are embodied in the marriage of a man and a woman.
