Gay adoption debate in France reignites on Twitter
Adoption for same-sex couples legal, but netizens continue discussion with countering hashtags.
French netizens are reigniting the debate surrounding what has been a sensitive social issue in the country in recent years: gay couples’ right to adopt.
The country legalised same-sex marriage and adoption in 2013, but politicians and court rulings in recent months have put the issue back at the centre of public debate.
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is expected to run in the 2017 presidential election, wants the country to scrap its gay marriage law. In September, France’s top court ruled that officials must allow same-sex couples to adopt children who were conceived by in vitro fertilisation (IVF). Most recently, a court, in December, made a similar ruling and upheld an adoption of a boy by two women.
Twitter users took the debate online on Tuesday and Wednesday with #ViveLAdoptionPourTous (“Long live adoption for all”) and #StopAdoptionPourTous (“Stop adoption for all”).
Many in favour of allowing adoption for same-sex couples used #ViveLAdoptionPourTous, which trended with more than 4,000 mentions: