One in eight Paris weddings now for same-sex couples

Statistics have revealed that Paris is becoming a hub for same-sex weddings in France.

Official stats released in the French capital showed that 13.5 percent of weddings to take place in 2014 were for same-sex couples – one in every eight unions.

It marks the second year that same-sex weddings have been legal in France, after Socialist President Francois Hollande passed the reform in May 2013.

1,331 same-sex couples married in the capital last year – with a running total of 2,365 since same-sex weddings were legalised.

Over a third of the Paris weddings took place in the gay-friendly Marais district, while 72 percent were in liberal districts that elected socialist mayors.

A city hall spokesman told France24 that there was no evidence of a rush for couples to marry, and that weddings had remained relatively stable at around 100 ceremonies a month.

The national figures on same-sex marriage are set to be released by INSEE next week – but uptake is expected to be lower in more conservative rural areas, where same-gender couples are unlikely to find acceptance.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to repeal the same-sex marriage law, and was recently re-elected to lead the centre-right UMP party.

Mr Sarkozy told a crowd in October that the law “should be rewritten from the ground up”, before adding: “If you prefer that I say repeal the law… it comes down to the same thing.”