France's first gay marriage - performed last month in Bordeaux - has been officially declared void. A court sided with the Government by ruling that the June 5 wedding between a shopkeeper and a male nurse was not allowed under French law. The union of shopkeeper Bertrand Charpentier, 31, and nurse Stephane Chapin, 33, has generated intense attention in France. The local mayor who officiated at the ceremony has already been suspended from his post for a month over the matter. The couple involved have previously vowed to appeal to the European Court of Human Rights should France block the marriage. A civil contract, known as PACS, permits couples in France - including same-sex ones - to attain some of the legal rights of marriage, but not others, notably those dealing with taxes and inheritance. |