Tuesday, June 1

France's Gary Newsom - Noel Mamère, the leader of the decidely minor Green Party in France, supports full marriage rights for gays. (Under a 1999 law, France already has "civil solidatity pacts," which are not exclusive to same-sex couples and provide rights similar to some U.S. states' reciprocal beneficiaries statutes.) Since Mamère is also mayor of Bègles, a small town in southwest France, he's decided to pull a Newsom and preside over a few same-sex marriages in his town. The Justice Minister plans to dispute the validity of Mamere's actions in court.