National

The age of consent for consensual sex between male couples is 15 years [R1.1].

National

On 15 November 1999, the law of the Pact Civil de Solidarite was enacted but the law does not grant equality in the areas of medically assisted procreation [R1.1].

Asylum, Refugees

A relatively new addition to the list of provisions enshrined in the 1951 UN Convention that entitles a person to apply for refugee status, "sexual orientation" owes its inclusion to a growing understanding in a handful of countries that lesbians and gays constitute a distinct social group. This article has been invoked to grant asylum to lesbians and gay men in France [R1.2].

In May 1998, an Algerian transsexual was given refugee status by the French government [R1.1].

National

On 15 November 1999, the law of the Pact Civil de Solidarite took effect, enacting a form of registered partnership recognising the union between two people of the same sex or the opposite sex.

The law grants same and opposite-sex registered couples spousal rights in areas such as income tax, inheritance, housing, immigration, health benefits, job transfers, synchronised vacation time, responsibility for debts, and social welfare.

It does not grant equality in the areas of parental rights, adoption or medically assisted procreation and a joint tax return cannot be filed for three years [R1.14].

In January 2010, Ministers announced that British civil partnerships are recognised as equal to PACs, and reimbursements will be made to individuals who have made undue tax payments since August 2007 [R1.13].

On 29 April 2009, the National Assembly approved of the measure to have foreign civil partnerships recognised in France as PACS. President Nicolas Sarkozy has 15 days to "promulgate" the measure into law after the Senate passed it last month [R1.12].

Previously:

In March 2009, the National Assembly was to consider recognising British civil partnerships [R1.11.

In August 2008, French authorities refused to recognise a UK civil partnership, resulting in the surviving partner being liable to pay 60% inheritance tax on property purchased together [R1.10].

In November 1999, the first officially recognised unions of same-sex couples in France were expected to be registered before the end of the month [R1.9].

On 13 October 1999, French legislators adopted the Civil Solidarity Pact bill, approving the law by a vote of 315-249 [R1.8].

In October 1999, the parliament was expected to soon vote in favour of the Civil Solidarity Pact bill [R1.7] .

In June 1999, the right-dominated Senate used stalling tactics to force the postponement of the Civil Solidarity Pact bill [R1.6].

In December 1998, the National Assembly passed the Civil Solidarity Pact (PACS) bill to improve the lot of gay and non-married couples despite strong right-wing opposition. The bill, passed by 316 votes to 249 [R1.5].

In September 1998, the Government said the "Civil Solidarity Pact" would be presented to the National Assembly in October [R1.4].

In May 1998, about 12,000 of France's 36,000 mayors have signed a petition opposing legislation that would let same-sex couples register their relationships at city halls and receive many of the benefits of marriage [R1.3].

In April 1998, France's Justice Minister Elisabeth Guigou said the government would go ahead with plans to allow same-sex couples the same legal benefits as straight couples [R1.2].

In February 1997, France's Socialist Party introduced a domestic partnership bill in the National Assembly [R1.1].

National

In August 2008, it was reported that the creation of a new French database, EDVIGE, would include details of sexual orientation and health, in particular HIV status [R1.2].

In 1985, discrimination in employment on the basis of sexual orientation became unlawful [R1.1].

National

On 30 December 2010, minister for justice Michel Mercier confirmed that the state will not recognise a change of gender identity without proof of "irreversible sterilisation" [R1.2].

On 10 February 2010, France became the first country in the world to declassify transgenderism as a mental illness, a government decree confirmed [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 11 October 2010, an Appeal Court refused to recognise trans woman Delphine Ravisé–Giard as female. Ms Giard had two months to prove that her "change of sex" is "irreversible" [R2.2].

On 25 March 1992, in B. v. France, No. 232C, the European Court of Human Rights required France to rectify post-operative transsexuals' official documents to conform with their apparent sex [R2.1].

National

In 2004, the French Government passed a law banning insults based on sexism and homophobia [R1.2], allowing French courts to hand down a fine of €45,000 (£30,000) and up to 12 months in prison for "defamation or incitement to discrimination, hatred or violence on the grounds of a person's sex or sexual orientation" [R1.1]

National

The first French Revolution abolished the religious courts and the subsequent Penal Code of 1791 made no mention of sexual relations between consenting adults in private. This policy on private sexual conduct was kept in the Napoleonic Code of 1810 [R1].

State

In August 2008, French authorities refused to recognise a UK civil partnership, resulting in the surviving partner being liable to pay 60% inheritance tax on property purchased together [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In July 2010, the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Bobigny ordered that a British man should be returned more than £30,000 he paid to tax authorities after inheriting a home from his civil partner. French law recognising civil partnerships as equivalent to the Pacte civil de solidarité was amended in May 2009 and backdated to 21 August 2007, prior to the death of the partner [R2.1].

National

Article 144 of the civil code does not stipulate that marriage is prohibited between people of the same sex [R1.4].

But Article 75 of the code lays down that during the marriage ceremony the presiding officer "shall receive from each party, one after the other, the declaration that they wish to take each other as man and wife."

Article 175-1 says the state prosecutor can register opposition to a marriage before it takes place or demand that it be declared void retrospectively.

Article 12 of the European Convention on Human Rights lays down that "from the legal age of marriage men and women have the right to marry and found a family in accordance with national laws governing the exercise of this right.".

Court judgments in 1986 and 1990 have interpreted this article as referring to two people of different biological sexes.

On 14 June 2011, the parliament rejected a bill designed to give gay couples the right to marry by 293 votes to 222 [R1.3].

In June 2011, Stephanie Nicot reportedly did not file post gender-reassignment surgery paperwork and was therefore still officially classified as male and a marriage licence was issued in Nancy [R1.2].

In June 2004, draft legislation was introduced to Parliament to legalise same-sex marriage [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

On 15 December 2011, a Court in Brest refused to recognise as a woman a transsexual man who changed gender but remained married to his wife, arguing that to do so would be to in effect recognise gay marriage [R2.7].

On 28 January 2011, the Constitutional Council ruled that laws prohibiting marriage equality in France do not violate the constitution, saying parliament was free to make new laws on the subject, so leaving open the option for a constitutional amendment in the future [C2.6], [R2.5].

On 16 November 2010, the highest court of appeal, the Court of Cassation, asked the Constitutional Council to rule on whether gay marriage should remain illegal [R2.4].

In March 2007, France's highest appeals court rejected an appeal by Stephane Charpin and Bertrang Chapentier to have their marriage recognised, thus making gay marriage illegal in the country. The court also ordered that the marriage be annuled [R2.3].

Previously:

In April 2005, an appeals court in the southwestern French city of Bordeaux confirmed the annulment of the country's first-ever gay marriage which was celebrated in a municipal office last June [R2.2].

In July 2004, a Bordeaux court declared France's first gay marriage null and void [R2.1].

National

In May 2000, France's armed forces reportedly accept avowed homosexuals into its ranks provided they do not attempt to convert others [R1.1].

National

On 15 November 1999, the law of the Pact Civil de Solidarite was enacted but it does not grant equality in the areas of parental rights or adoption [R1.1].

Courts & Tribunals

In September 2010, the European Court of Human Rights reportedly would hear the case of Valerie Gas whose application for an adoption order for the daughter of her long-term partner Nathalie Dubois was refused by French courts in 2006 [R2.4].

In November 2007, an administrative tribunal in the eastern town of Besancon reportedly granted a lesbian couple the right to jointly adopt a child after they had been turned down by regional authorities [R2.3].

Previously:

In 2006, Valerie Gas applied for an adoption order for the daughter of her long-term partner Nathalie Dubois however, the French courts rejected the adoption request, saying it was not in the interests of the child and could deprive Dubois of her rights in respect of the child [R2.4].

In December 2000, a French appeals court in Nancy rejected the Besancon administrative tribunal's ruling and the advice of its own commissioner to deny an adoption to a partnered lesbian [R2.2].

The court's commissioner testified that as a teacher the lesbian was capable of raising a child, and the tribunal in Besancon had ordered the adoption based on its belief that her relationship is a stable one [R2.2].

In 2006, the the Cour de Cassation court ruled that both members of a gay couple have parental authority over a child, where previously only the biological parent had authority [R2.1].

"The civil code is not opposed to a mother, as sole holder of the parental authority, delegating all or part of the duties to the woman with whom she lives in a stable and continuous union," the Cour de Cassation court wrote in its ruling. The decision of the court, which interprets French law but does not hear trials, also applies to gay male couples when one partner is a biological father.