1000s Join Paris Anti-gay Marriage Rally , Riot Cops Use Teargas

1000s Join Paris Anti-gay Marriage Rally

Published on Mar 24, 2013

Tens of thousands of French families, activists and conservatives converged on the capital to try to stop the country from allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt. A bill has passed the lower house of parliament and awaits a Senate vote  by The Associated Press

1 Mother & 1 Father, it's Elementary

Published on Mar 24, 2013

Paris riot police used tear gas and fought back crowds who pushed their way onto Paris' landmark Champs-Elysees avenue as part of a huge protest against a draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. by The Associated Press

Clashes at French anti-gay marriage protest

Sustained protests led by opposition conservatives in this traditionally Catholic country have eroded support for the draft law in recent months, and organizers hope Sunday's march will weigh on the Senate debate.
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, the avenue that cuts through central Paris and draws throngs of tourists daily. In an indication of the sensitivity of the issue, protesters had been barred from marching on the Champs.
Police officers wrangled with the youths and then fired tear gas to force them back. Gaining momentum, more and more protesters took side streets to reach the avenue, blocking a key intersection on the route to the president's Elysee Palace.
Police fired more tear gas but were unable to block the crowds from spilling onto the avenue.
"Hollande, Resignation!" the protestors chanted, before breaking into the French anthem, "La Marseillaise."

 The numbers vary:

The official estimated that 300,000 people took part in Sunday's march, slightly less than a similar march in January. Organizers estimated more than 1.2 million people took part in Sunday's march, more than in the January protest.
Polls indicate a shrinking majority of French voters back gay marriage, which is legal in about a dozen mostly European nations and some U.S. states. But polls show French voters are less enthusiastic about adoption by same-sex couples.
Frigide Barjot, the stage name of an activist who has led protests against the bill, insisted the anti-gay marriage movement wasn't a lost cause. "It's the second round, sir. It's not the last battle."

Read more: Clashes at French anti-gay marriage protest

Democrat MN Secretary of State changes Ballot and Amendments, Loses In Court

High Court: Voter ID, Marriage Amendments on Nov. Ballot
 
08/27/2012

 The Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday rejected a legal challenge to a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show photo ID at the polls.

The high court tossed out a lawsuit from left-leaning groups who argued that lawmakers had failed to give voters the full scope of the changes that would result from the amendment.

 In a separate decision, the court also threw out ballot titles written by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie for the photo ID amendment and another amendment to ban gay marriage. Republicans had argued that Ritchie, a Democrat, overstepped his authority and was trying to influence voters to reject both amendments.

Both decisions were victories for conservatives. The Republican-controlled Legislature pushed both proposed amendments through over opposition from Democrats including Gov. Mark Dayton. Dayton last year vetoed a bill to require photo ID, but has no power to block constitutional amendments that are sent directly to voters.

The lawsuit that sought to strike the photo ID measure from the ballot seized on the relatively brief language, with the League of Women Voters and other groups arguing that voters weren't being given enough information to properly understand what was at stake. Critics of photo ID say it will work against Minnesota's popular same-day voter registration.

The court majority wrote that the photo ID ballot question "is not so unreasonable and misleading" that it should be taken off the ballot. The justices said striking the question from the ballot would have been "unprecedented relief" and that the voters will be "the sole judge of the wisdom of such matters."

After the Legislature approved the ballot questions, Ritchie changed the title on both, sparking an outcry from Republicans who accused him of trying to sink the amendments with prejudicial language.

Ritchie changed the title for the marriage ban from "Recognition of Marriage Solely Between One Man and One Woman" to "Limiting the Status of Marriage to Opposite Sex Couples."

He rewrote the photo ID title from "Photo Identification Required for Voting" to "Changes to In-Person & Absentee Voting & Voter Registration; Provisional Ballots."




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Previous Blog on the leftist Secretary of State's meddling with the voters and the ballot process:
MN Sec. of State Mark Ritchie Alters 2nd Ballot Amendment Title for Election 2012 
MN Secretary Of State Mark Ritchie- Against ID, For Widespread Fraud


#voterid #markritchie #secretaryofstate #newparty #secretaryofstateproject #markdayton /#loriswanson #dfl #mndfl #democrats #voterfraud