French schools to replace ‘mother’ and ‘father’ with ‘parent 1’ and ‘parent 2’ under new law

Schools in France are set to replace the words 'father' and 'mother' with 'parent 1' and 'parent 2.'

A new law which aims to tackle discrimination against same-sex parents will remove the aforementioned words from administration forms and other school-based documents. The move aims to update the so-called "old fashioned" assumption that children have both a mother and a father. The amendment to the School of Trust Bill was widely supported by French president Emmanuel Macron's party. It reads: "To prevent discrimination, school enrolment, class registers, parental authorisations and all other official forms involving children must mention only Parent 1 and Parent 2." MP Valérie Petit, who tabled the bill, said that the previous law presumed that families with same-sex parents did not exist.

“This amendment aims to root in law children’s family diversity in administrative forms submitted in school,” she said.

“We have families who find themselves faced with tick boxes stuck in rather old-fashioned social and family models. For us, this article is a measurement of social equality."

The law was first mentioned back in 2013 when France legalised same-sex marriage.

It will soon move on to the Senate.