In the nervous minutes leading up to Wednesday's groundbreaking ceremony in the southern city of Montpellier, Bruno Boileau said he adored Vincent Autin's "charisma, his ability to appease me, calm me down ... also his sensibility and his determination."
And returning the warmth, Autin told CNN in the couple's only interview on their wedding day: "What I love about him is his objectivity and the way he protects me. He is my great protector."
But their marriage is not just about their love; they also want to build a family and, perhaps, teach future generations how to break down prejudices.
"We want children, we want to pass down values that are important to us, that we hold dear, that are right. And we want grandchildren and great-grandchildren, a real family," Autin said.
"One of the reasons we want children is because children have no judgement, and we want to break down society's barriers."
He added that "when French children are born into this world, they are born with the same rights as everyone else -- but from the moment you said you were a homosexual, society deprived you of some of those rights. Today the French Republic has given these rights back to us." » | Saskya Vandoorne and Peter Wilkinson, CNN | Wednesday, May 29, 2013
