Paris riot police have fought back crowds who pushed their way onto Champs-Elysees avenue as 300,000 people protested against marriage and adoption equality. Conservative activists, children, retirees, priests - converged on the capital in a last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bussed in from the French provinces, AFP reports. The lower house of France's parliament approved the "marriage for everyone" bill last month with a large majority, and it's facing a vote in the Senate next month. Both houses are dominated by French President Francois Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies. The first few hours of the protest were peaceful. But as it was meant to be winding down, about 100 youths tried to push past police barricades onto the Champs-Elysees. Police officers wrangled with the youths and then fired tear gas to force them back. In Trafalgar Square in London, hundreds of both pro and anti-equal marriage protestors have met in a noisy protest. French anti-equality group La Manif pour Tous was granted permission to hold the rally to coincide with a large-scale anti-equal marriage protest at the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 25th March 2013 - 11:05am