France to replace ‘mum’ and ‘dad’ with ‘parent 1 and 2’ on school forms

Schools in France will be replacing the words 'mother' and 'father' with 'parent 1' and 'parent 2' on official forms in an attempt to be more inclusive to LGBT+ families.

The move forms part of an amendment to a new draft education bill, which the French national assembly has voted on, passing its first reading.

It is an attempt made by Emmanuel Macron and his party République en Marche (REM) to tackle discrimination against same-sex parents.

Member of parliament Valérie Petit, who tabled the amendment, said it was a way of "anchoring the diversity of families with children in the law".

She added:

This amendment aims to root in law children’s family diversity in administrative forms submitted in school.

The amendment says: "To prevent discrimination, school enrolment, class registers, parental authorisations and all other official forms involving children must mention only Parent 1 and Parent 2."

It follows France passing the marriage equality law in 2013, which enshrined equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.

There has been a mixed response from French politicians and people online.

Alexandre Urwicz, president of the Association of Homo-parental Families is torn.

“At first, we welcomed the amendment because, technically, it allows our families to be included in forms that previously did not allow it,” he told AFP.

However, later, he thought the numbers could encourage parental competition. “Who is number 1 and who is number 2?” he asked.

Some people think it's a great idea.

Others... not so much.

The amendment is in the beginning stages. There will be a second reading on 19 February and it has yet to be approved by the Senate.

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