"There are only a few days left and we are not going to abandon the streets now," one of the organisers of Sunday's demonstration, Alberic Dumont, told AFP. Tens of thousands are expected to turn out, although organisers admit they are unlikely to see a repeat of a huge demonstration in March that was attended by more than 300,000 people. Meanwhile, opponents continued to protest in Paris and other cities in France, with 75 people detained Thursday -- three of whom have been accused of violence against police and theft.



On Wednesday, demonstrations also turned violent, with two journalists attacked, their equipment destroyed, and cars vandalised. News of a fresh attack on a gay bar also emerged, with the manager and client of an establishment in the southwestern city of Bordeaux assaulted overnight on Wednesday by two people who also smashed bottles and glasses. The attack happened on the same night as a similar incident in the northern city of Lille, where three employees of a gay bar were injured in an attack by four men who smashed the building's windows.

Men are stripping to the waist, scribbling slogans on their body, holding hands and demonstrating across France against gay marriage. The slogans on their bodies, written in French and English, declare ‘No gay marriage’ ‘Save kids’ and ‘Demo [democracy] dead’. Their page on Facebook declares they stand for ‘women and children first’.



And they accuse French President François Hollande of ‘gassing’ children. French riot police have used tear gas to stem the violence at some anti-gay marriage protests and the demonstrators have been accused of using their children as a ‘human shield’ against the authorities.



They declare (translated from French): ‘François Hollande must leave his deafening silence. His contempt for the people screaming is a denial of democracy. Gassing children on 24 March is a fault that should never happen again. We will not yield.’

Organizers of France's increasingly violent anti-gay marriage movement are urging supporters to take to the streets tomorrow in advance of what may be the bill's finalization on Tuesday.reports that a new group joining the protests is calling themselves The Hommen in an apparent take on the famous FEMEN activists from Ukraine. And like FEMEN, the all-male Hommen also protests topless.Here's a press conference and demonstration held by the Hommen on Thursday in which they burn the words "democracy" and "dictatorship" while a lone female counter-protester shouts at them.s calls it "the most homoerotic anti-gay protest ever." One gay activist snipes: "For some people the best way to protest is to show their own bodies because they aren’t very good looking. But that’s just being bitchy and we should be better than that."

Labels: France, hate groups, marriage equality, religion