[ Ссылка ] A bill to legalise same-sex marriage in France has taken a major step towards becoming law.
The National Assembly - the lower part of the French parliament - has approved a bill on the issue, with three hundred and twenty nine votes for and two hundred and twenty nine against.
Known in France as "marriage for all", the bill also paves the way homosexual couples to be able to adopt children.
Opponents are not giving up.
"The bill will probably be adopted. That's a first reading in the National Assembly, then comes the Senate, the second reading, then our Constitutional Court. So it's not the end of the story yet," said Hervé Mariton, a deputy from the opposition UMP party.
The vote follows months of debate and controversy - which provoked mass rallies across France both for and against.
Polls show most French people are in favour.
"Marriage for all" has become one of the most divisive issues under the new left-wing government.
If the bill gets through the Senate and the final hurdles, France will become the 12th country including several in Europe to legalise same-sex marriage.
British MPs backed it in a first vote last month.
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