arguments and the protests of 100,000 angry conservatives and/or pious Roman Catholics in front of the National Assembly."They completely missed the point,"says socialist M.P.Patrick Bloche,who coauthored the legislation."We just wanted to offer a new legal framework within which a couple could organize its life.They accused us of killing marriage." In a historically Catholic country,such passions might have been expected.The real surprise is the progress since then.The year before civil unions became law,in 1999,just 49 percent of French people were supportive.Two years later,with French civilization still on its feet,70 percent backed them.Today even conservative French leaders who once lambasted the unions have discovered their merits,though chiefly as a bulwark against gay marriage.France's 71-year-old President Jacques Chirac recently felt the need to acknowledge the inadequacies of civil unions with an eye toward improving-not getting rid of-such pacts "Experience show,"Chirac told jouralists,that the civil-union legislation "has not provided all the guarantees,all the solutions to problems linked to human rights.” Perhaps aware of the backlash from the original civil-union debate, Interior Minister Villepin asserts that he is merely enforcing French law. For his part,the mayor maintains that the French legal code does not require that marriage be between a man and a woman,and on June 29 he will ask an administrative court in Bordeaux to void his suspension on the arguments and the protests of 100,000 angry conservatives and/or pious Roman Catholics in front of the National Assembly. “They completely missed the point,” says socialist M.P. Patrick Bloche, who coauthored the legislation. “ We just wanted to offer a new legal framework within which a couple could organize its life. They accused us of killing marriage.” In a historically Catholic country, such passions might have been expected. The real surprise is the progress since then. The year before civil unions became law, in 1999, just 49 percent of French people were supportive. Two years later, with French civilization still on its feet, 70 percent backed them. Today even conservative French leaders who once lambasted the unions have discovered their merits, though chiefly as a bulwark against gay marriage. France’s 71-year-old President Jacques Chirac recently felt the need to acknowledge the inadequacies of civil unions with an eye toward improving—not getting rid of –such pacts. “Experience show,” Chirac told journalists, that the civil-union legislation “has not provided all the guarantees, all the solutions to problems linked to human rights.” Perhaps aware of the backlash from the original civil-union debate, Interior Minister Villepin asserts that he is merely enforcing French law. For his part, the mayor maintains that the French legal code does not require that marriage be between a man and a woman, and on June 29 he will ask an administrative court in Bordeaux to void his suspension on the