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Hundreds of thousands protest against gay marriage in Paris

Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in Paris against a proposed law allowing same-sex marriage.

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A man lays on the ground as riot police walk along the Champs-Elysees avenue during a demonstration against France's gay marriage law. (ERIC FEFERBERG/AFP/Getty Images)

Hundreds of thousands of people protested against gay marriage in France on Sunday. The demonstrators marched along a route leading to the Champs Elysees after police banned them marching on Paris avenue, the Associated Press and BBC reported.

The protest was sparked by a proposed law that would legalize same-sex marriage and adoption in France. It has already been approved  by the lower chamber of parliament and will go to the Senate for approval next month.

Police fought back crowds and fired tear gas as the demonstrators pushed their way onto Paris' landmark street.

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Protester Victoire Ponroy  told Euronews: “We think that a man and a woman are complementary. If a child is raised by two men or two women, obviously they will be loved, obviously they will be raised properly, but they will lack something fundamental for his upbringing.”

And protesters held up banners with messages such as, "We want work not gay marriage," and "No to gayxtremism," RFI reported.

But it appears that it is the protesters who are the extreme ones, as the majority of French citizens actually support the legalization of same-sex marriage, Euronews reported.