Same-sex marriage has been legalised in France, under the most unpopular president since the 1950s according to a new poll.
Yesterday the socialist-majority National Assembly voted 331-225 in favour of gay marriage and adoption, despite massive public unrest about the issue.
And it is estimated that close to 15,000 mayors will refuse to conduct same-sex marriages in the country, following a poll which showed more than half of them oppose the new law.
Popular
A recent survey from French pollster Ifop found that President Francois Hollande is the country’s least popular leader in five decades, with 74 per cent of respondents unhappy with him.
Close to 2,000 French adults were polled last week, and 38 per cent said they were “quite unhappy” while 36 per cent said they were “very unhappy” with President Hollande.
Protests against gay marriage have been held in the country, with hundreds of thousands of ordinary French men and women showing their disagreement with the legislation.
Campaigners
Organisers of a march at the Eiffel Tower in January say 800,000 campaigners gathered to call on the French President to drop the gay marriage plans.
But they were hit with a 100,000 euro fine by the gay mayor of Paris, in a move dubbed the “height of pettiness” by the party of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy.