The Gay-Marriage Flap;The Government Is out of Step with Public Opinion At the Begles town hall,near Bordeaux,Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier stepped out of a chocolate-colored Rolls-Royce-one in a pinstripe black suit,the other in white.Watching uneasily was the local mayor,Noel Mamere.He had presided over many weddings,but never one like this.Riot police faced off against protesters. The wedding vows,closed with a kiss,played repeated on the nightly news.Mamere himselfwept openly. The first gay marriage in French history,earlier this month,has highlighted a cultural chasm,revealing that touchstone religious and social issues can still flare up in strikingly secular France.Since announcing that he would oversee the wedding,Mamere has been condemned by angry churchgoers,ben sent a package of feces and received so many death threats that the Interior Ministry assigned him a bodyguard.Serge Dassault,owner of the conservative French daily le Figaro,penned an op-ed piece accusing people like Mamere of trying to "destroy the basis of our society"and the concept of family.The Justice Ministry launched efforts to nullify the marriage,and last week Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin signed a disciplinary measure suspending Mamere from his mayoral duties for one month. The Gay-Marriage Flap; The Government Is out of Step with Public Opinion At the Begles town hall, near Bordeaux, Stephane Chapin and Bertrand Charpentier stepped out of a chocolate-colored Rolls-Royce—one in a pinstripe black suit, the other in white. Watching uneasily was the local mayor, Noel Mamere. He had presided over many weddings, but never one like this. Riot police faced off against protesters. The wedding vows, closed with a kiss, played repeated on the nightly news. Mamere himself wept openly. The first gay marriage in French history, earlier this month, has highlighted a cultural chasm, revealing that touchstone religious and social issues can still flare up in strikingly secular France. Since announcing that he would oversee the wedding, Mamere has been condemned by angry churchgoers, ben sent a package of feces and received so many death threats that the Interior Ministry assigned him a bodyguard. Serge Dassault, owner of the conservative French daily le Figaro, penned an op-ed piece accusing people like Mamere of trying to “destroy the basis of our society” and the concept of family. The Justice Ministry launched efforts to nullify the marriage, and last week Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin signed a disciplinary measure suspending Mamere from his mayoral duties for one month