Mayor breaks own gay marriage rule

THE MAYOR of a French town who is opposed to gay marriage bent his own self-imposed rule to perform one wedding ceremony between two men - one of whom was his son.

Last year, Raymond Bardet, mayor of Ville-La-Grand in Haute Savoie, staged a sham gay wedding between the town’s general services manager and communications manager, Le Dauphiné Libéré reported - but, despite his personal beliefs, on Saturday he performed a genuine ceremony.

He insisted, however, his decision was a one-off. “I did it because it was my son,” he said.

“I will not perform another gay marriage.”

He added that he had only learned about his son’s sexuality recently, but said he couldn’t ask an assistant to perform the ceremony, as that would have given the wrong impression about his feelings towards his own family.

It was, he said, a decision based purely on paternal love.

“I am his father,” he said. “It was up to me to celebrate their union, as I had done for his sister.”

Photo:iStock.com/jamievanbuskirk