French police carry one protester as other officers fire tear gas at anti-gay marriage demonstrators in Paris, May 26, 2013.<\/p>\n
French police have clashed with hundreds of protesters at the end of a major demonstration in Paris against the new gay marriage law.\n<\/p>\n
The Sunday rally in the capital was initially held peacefully without incidents, but at the end police clashed with up to 500 people, using tear gas to scatter the crowd.\n<\/p>\n
Police also arrested over 290 people, of which 231 were held in detention pending investigation late Sunday.\n<\/p>\n
The protest, which consisted of four separate processions, gathered 150,000 people, according to police.\n<\/p>\n
However, organizers of the demonstration reported that one million protesters had participated in the event. The demonstrators say the same-sex marriage legislation is against family and religious values.\n<\/p>\n
Prior to the rally, France\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s Interior Minister Manuel Valls warned that far-right nationalists were expected to participate in the protest to cause unrest.\n<\/p>\n
\u00c5\u201cWe keep hearing about a far-right movement, I can see only families here,\u201d said one protester.\n<\/p>\n
French President Francois Hollande signed into law the gay marriage bill on May 18, a day after the Constitutional Council approved the bill, rejecting a challenge by the right-wing opposition.\n<\/p>\n
The protest rallies, which began last fall when the gay marriage bill was adopted by the cabinet, have been held at regular intervals across France during the legislative process.\n<\/p>\n
French churches have condemned the measure, calling gay marriages \u00c5\u201ca sham\u201d that would \u00c5\u201cshake one of the foundations of our society.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
France is now the 14th country in the world to accept gay marriage, a divisive topic that has caused strong opinions in many other countries too.\n<\/p>\n
In Poland, some 10,000 people marched Sunday in solidarity with the French to defend the traditional family structure.\n<\/p>\n
Also in Brazil, tens of thousands of protesters marched in Rio de Janeiro on May 25 protesting a recent legal ruling allowing same-sex couples in the country to marry.\n<\/p>\n
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