PARIS, February 13 - RAPSI. After ten days of debates, the National Assembly, the lower house of France's parliament, has passed a bill granting marriage and adoption rights to same-sex couples by a large majority.

Of the 577 members of the National Assembly, 329 voted for the bill and 229 against. The result came as no real surprise as the leftwing parties which initiated the bill have a majority in the house.

The bill will now be sent to the Senate, where the Socialist-led coalition has a majority, therefore it is likely that the bill will be approved. Minister for Relations with Parliament Alain Vidalies said the Senate will begin hearing the bill on April 2.

President Francois Hollande promised to legalize same-sex marriage during his election campaign.

At the moment, same-sex couples in France are able to have civil unions, but the Socialists also want to allow them to get married and to adopt children. The rightwing opposition and the Catholic Church are firmly against this idea.

Thousands-strong demonstrations took place for and against the bill prior to the parliamentary hearings. The latest protest rally was held in Paris on January 13 and was attended by between 340,000 (according to the police) and 800,000 people (according to the organizers). On January 27, a rally in Paris supporting the bill was attended by between 125,000 (police estimate) and 400,000 (organizers' estimate) activists. The next protest rally is planned for March 24.

Several European nations already have marriage equality laws. The British House of Commons voted in favor of marriage equality late last month.