France legalizes same-sex marriage after harsh debate

France legalized same-sex marriage on Tuesday after a wrenching national debate that has exposed deep conservatism in the nation's heartland and triggered huge protests that tapped into deep discontent with the Socialist government.

Legions of officers with water cannon braced outside the National Assembly for violence that had not come by late evening. The protests against the measure included thousands but were peaceful. Other gatherings were simply celebrations.
But it was an issue that galvanized the country's faltering right, which had been decimated by infighting and their election loss to President Francois Hollande.
The measure passed easily in the Socialist-majority Assembly, 331-225, just minutes after the president of the legislative body expelled a disruptive protester in pink, the color adopted by French opponents of same-sex marriage.
Justice Minister Christiane Taubira told lawmakers that the first weddings could be as soon as June.