French schools could replace 'mother and father' with 'parent 1 and 2'
A children's guardians could no longer be labelled “mother” and “father” on official French school documents, but “parent 1” and “parent 2”.
The change was part of an amendment to a new draft education bill, which supporters say seeks to put an end to discrimination against same-sex parents, Euronews reports.
Passed by MPs on Tuesday, it could still be rejected by France's Senate, which houses a right majority, but will then go back to National Assembly for a final reading.
"This amendment aims to enshrine in legislation the family diversity of children in the administrative forms submitted to the school," said Valérie Petit, an MP from Macron's La Republique En Marche! (LREM) party, who drafted the text.
She argued that it took into account France's adoption of laws on same-sex couples marrying and having children.
However, its critics say that the change is "dehumanising".
"No child has a parent 1 or parent 2, that doesn't exist, it's in the realms of the absurd," Ludovine de la Rochere from La Manif Pour Tous, a collective that opposes same-sex marriage and same-sex parenting, told French radio RTL.