I Refuse to Marry Two Men': French Mayor Could Reportedly Be Jailed for 5 Years for Refusing to Marry Gays

A French mayor could land himself in hot water over a refusal to marry same-sex couples. Jean-Michel Colo, the leader of Arcangues, a town in the Paye-Basques region of France, is taking a controversial stance against a national law in his country that recently legalized gay matrimony.

The decision, according to the International Business Times, could cost Colo his job -- but that's not all. Media accounts claim that a refusal to marry same-sex couples could also land the political leader behind bars.

Picture taken on April 27, 2013 in Paris shows plastic figurines of two men displayed on a fake cake displayed at the Gay marriage fair in Paris. The fair takes place four days after France's National Assembly approved a bill making the country the 14th to legalise same-sex marriage. Credit: AFP/Getty Images

The mayor isn't only making a stance based on principle -- he's also exercising it in practice, as he has refused to marry Guy Martineau-Espel and his partner Jean-Michel Martin. The act has sparked international attention and debate.

In an interview with AFP, Colo made it clear that he has no plans to comply with France's law, which he calls "illegitimate." While he argues that men and women have every right to engage on private behavior in the confines of their own homes, he believes that marriage should only exist between a man and a woman.

"When I wanted to have a child, I had a woman, I did not turn to my neighbor," he said, later adding, "I refuse to marry two men. No homosexual weddings will be celebrated in Arcangues."

Colo is apparently well aware of the penalties for refusal to wed gays (allegedly 75 euros and up to five years in prison), but he is holding firm to his beliefs on the matter, regardless of the penalties he could face. The couple may sue if the mayor doubles-down and there's no telling what will happen if Colo refuses to comply with the new same-sex marriage law.

(H/T: International Business Times)

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