Today's "funny old world" entry:
France is set to ban the words "mother" and "father" from all official documents under controversial plans to legalise gay marriage.
The move, which has outraged Catholics, means only the word "parents" would be used in identical marriage ceremonies for all heterosexual and same-sex couples.
The draft law states that "marriage is a union of two people, of different or the same gender".
It says all references to "mothers and fathers" in the civil code – which enshrines French law – will be swapped for simply "parents".
The law would also give equal adoption rights to homosexual and heterosexual couples.
"Of the same or different gender." Cute. Sorry, Mom and Dad, your time is over. Of course, real people might not be as quick to evolve as "official documents."
The story includes the usual complaint from a Catholic Church official that there could be "innumerable consequences" from the move, such as a demand for marriages with three or four members and the eventual fall of the incest taboo. I don't know about the incest part, but I suspect the group-marriage part is correct. The logic for gay marriage is that people shouldn't be punished for their "orientation," the way they were born, right? Don't bisexuals have the same right? If we accept that their orientation goes both ways, how can we deny them the right to a partner of each gender?
Just asking.
