Highest French Court Rejects Same Sex Marriage Appeal

France’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, upheld the country’s same sex marriage ban Friday, the ruling relieving the government of any and all obligations to grant gays the same rights and benefits as those enjoyed by straight married couples, reports the Associated Press. The court said the current laws banning same sex marriage do not violate the constitution and that any changes to the law is for parliament to decide. Same sex couples in France can form civil unions, but those do not confer the same inheritance rights or joint custody of goods, among other benefits that arrive with legal marriage. In its decision, the council noted that legislators had agreed that the “difference in situation of same sex couples and couples made up of a man and woman can justify a difference in treatment concerning family rights.” The ruling effectively places same sex marriage as an issue first and foremost of the upcoming legislative and presidential elections to be held in 2012, a poll released Friday revealing growing public support for same sex marriage.