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French Muslim deputy mayor sentenced over refusal to marry lesbians
A deputy mayor in the French city of Marseille has been given a five month suspended prison sentence over her ditching her responsibilities when faced with the prospect of having to perform the marriage of two lesbians.
Socialist Party deputy mayor Sabrina Hout performed the marriages of four heterosexual couples on 16 August last year, but when she realized she also had a same-sex marriage to perform that day she claimed she was feeling unwell and asked a colleague to perform the marriage instead
However the colleague was only a borough council member so did not have the legal authority to perform the marriage and so it was later found to be invalid.
As a result the couple had to marry again through a different district mayor.
Hout told the court that she was not prejudiced against gays and lesbians and put the error down to a ‘bad set of circumstances.’
But three witnesses told the court that she had referred to her ‘religious convictions’ as a Muslim as a reason she should not perform the couple’s marriage.
‘I’m really sorry,’ Hout told the court, ‘I’m ashamed of what I did, if it was interpreted as homophobia.’
However the court found the evidence against Hout to be ‘damning.’
‘It is imperative that no citizen, irrespective of age, handicap, race, political opinion and, indeed, sexuality, has reason to doubt the neutrality of … elected officials,’ the court found in its verdict.
The court also ordered Hout to pay damages of €1,200 to each of the women.
If Hout refuses to perform her duties as deputy mayor again she could potentially be jailed for five months.
The post French Muslim deputy mayor sentenced over refusal to marry lesbians appeared first on Gay Star News.
Andrew Potts
www.gaystarnews.com/article/french-muslim-deputy-mayor-sentenced-over-refusal-to-marry-lesbians/
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