Historic Event in France: Vincent Autin and Bruno Boileau Become First Gay Couple to Marry

Yesterday, Vincent Autin et Bruno Boileau became the first same-sex couple to marry in France. John Aravosis has great comprehensive coverage of the event at AmericaBlog Gay. As he notes, the couple married amidst media fanfare and ongoing protests. Al Jazeera reports that, just before Autin and Boileau walked into the Montpellier city hall for the marriage, someone lobbed a smoke bomb. As John Aravosis notes, at one point the city hall had to be searched following a phoned-in threat. The Guardian (UK) has video coverage of some of the scuffles involving protesters and the police.

As the Al Jazeera article notes, despite the heavy security surrounding the wedding and despite the protests, after it was all over, Vincent Autin had the following to say from a balcony to the crowds gathered for the event:

Love each other, love us, love one another, because it's important.

Perhaps that simple sentence could be made the theme of some homilies in Catholic churches throughout France (and the U.S.) next Sunday?

P.S. As you may have found, when you click on the Agence France Presse video at the head of the posting, a message will say that AFP has blocked it for use on various websites, but clicking again leads you immediately to the YouTube copy of the video.