By OLEG CETINIC and MICHEL EULER
PARIS March 24, 2013 (AP)
Paris police used tear gas and batons to fight crowds who pushed their way onto the landmark Champs-Elysees avenue and toward the presidential palace as part of a huge protest against a draft law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt ********.
Hundreds of thousands of people — conservative activists, schoolchildren with their parents, retirees, priests — converged on the capital Sunday in a last-ditch bid to stop the bill, many bused in from the French provinces.
The ******** took protesters and police by surprise, and suggested that the anti-gay marriage protests have become outlets for anger and disappointment in the presidency of Francois Hollande's presidency.
The lower house of France's parliament approved the "marriage for everyone" bill last month with a large majority, and it's facing a vote in the Senate next month. Both houses are dominated by Hollande's Socialist Party and its allies.
Sustained protests led by opposition conservatives in this traditionally Catholic country have eroded support for the draft law in recent months, and organizers hope Sunday's march will swing the Senate debate against it.
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