“Madame X, do you agree to take Madam Y as your wife?” “A solemn sentence pronounced regularly in all the town halls of France. But not all of them had a form adapted to the legislative developments of recent years, like Marseille. And it is now done. As well as for the birth declaration forms which did not provide for the possibility of there being two mothers, something legally possible since the adoption last year of the law on assisted medical procreation (PMA) for all.
“The laws on marriage for all, on PMA and the entry into force on July 1 of the law on the right to change your name have changed civil status, but we must be ready to welcome these changes. “, explains Sophie Roques, deputy mayor in charge of civil status. These modifications which follow the legislative evolutions are combined “with a will to develop public services which welcome without discrimination. “Not that these are legion in Marseille, but there are still” cases of awkward reception, felt as discriminating, often out of ignorance”, continues the elected official.
2.65% of marriages are homosexual
This is why the 300 civil registrars of the city spread over 32 sites follow awareness training, in a cross-functional mission involving the town halls of sectors and the central town hall. A device implemented last year. And if Marseille does not keep statistics on same-sex marriages, these concern 2.65% of marriages in France, according to INSEE data calculated for the year 2019. The question of an inclusive reception in civil status procedures is all the more important as it affects the privacy of the persons concerned, their status as parents, their identity, in particular for transgender people. “And we can say that in Marseille, we started from very far away on these questions”, estimated Sophie Roques.
As this Tuesday marks the World Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the municipality wished to recall its commitment to minorities and the ambition to develop, beyond civil status services, public services inclusive as well as supporting an LGBT associative fabric capable of acting on these issues. With, moreover, the establishment of “an alert system which makes it possible to trace cases of discrimination”, concludes the elected official.