French parliament adopts gay marriage bill

The French Parliament on Friday completed adoption of a gay marriage bill after the Senate voted in favour of the legislation, which sparked mass protests in recent months.

France's upper house Senate voted Friday to adopt a law granting homosexual couples the right to marry, which has sparked widespread opposition and protests from conservatives and religious groups.

The vote, by a show of hands, followed days of intense debate. The bill must still technically face a second reading in the lower house National Assembly, but lawmakers there already adopted it in a first reading on February 12.