Words ‘mother’ and ‘father’ banned from school forms in France

A change to a law in France will see schools unable to refer to a child’s parents as their “mother” or “father” on school documents, instead the titles will be replaced with “parent 1” and “parent 2”.

The amendment was passed in parliament as part of the country’s Schools of Trust law and aims to reduce the discrimination faced by same-sex parents.

“To prevent discrimination, school enrolment, class registers, parental authorisations and all other official forms involving children must mention only Parent 1 and Parent 2,” the amendment reads.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s Republique en Marche party backed the change, with MP Valérie Petit saying this amendment of the wider law recognises “children’s family diversity in administrative forms”.

“We have families who find themselves faced with tick boxes stuck in rather old-fashioned social and family models,” Ms Petit said.

“For us, this article is a measurement of social equality.”

But not everyone was impressed with the amendment, with conservatives and Christian groups arguing the phrase parent 1 or 2 “dehumanises” parents.

A number of conservative MPs denounced the change, calling the amendment “frightening” and claiming it disrespected heterosexual parents.

There is still potential for the change to be rejected by the majority-Senate and if this happens it would return to France’s National Assembly for further consideration.

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