A conservative Catholic family group has
lost its suit against Gleeden, a dating website for married people
seeking partners for an extra-conjugal affair, and been ordered to pay
court costs for the company that runs the service.
The National Confederation of Catholic
Family Associations brought the suit in 2015, arguing that the Gleeden
website violated the marriage law which says “spouses owe each other
mutual respect, fidelity, support and assistance”.
But a Paris court said there could be
exceptions to that rule. ”The violation of this obligation cannot be
considered a misdemeanour because couples can agree to ignore this
obligation or the infidelity of one spouse can be excused by the
behaviour of the other,” it said.
It ordered the confederation to pay 2,000
euros in court costs to Blackdivine, the internet company that owns
Gleeden - a name formed from the English world “glee” and “Eden”..
"This is a victory for free speech
against these censorious bigots," Blackdivine's lawyer said.
The
confederation said it would consider appealing the ruling.
The confederation brought its suit after
Gleeden put up large ads around Paris showing an apple with one bite
taken out of it. "Contrary to anti-depressants, a lover doesn't cost the
National Health anything," it said.
The posters were taken down in the well-off western suburbs of Paris after an outcry there.
Adultery has not been a crime in France
since 1975.
The court decision came the same week as another website,
which offers short daytime hotel reservations commonly associated with
adultery, announced its traffic had doubled last year over 2015.