I love you, PACS me!

In 1999, France created the French equivalent of a civil union. The PACS--an acronym for "pacte civile de solidarité"-- was intended as an alternative to marriage for gay couples, but it was open to straight couples as well. And it was used by them--perhaps paradoxically, 94% of PACS couples are straight. With the legalization of gay marriage in May 2013, gay couples who want legal protection are no longer relegated to the PACS. What does the PACS mean to the people who get it, and how is it different from marriage? How can love and commitment be expressed, and how is this changing in modern French society? Savannah Kopp interviews PACS couples in Paris about their love stories and their PACS stories. This piece explores how a culturally specific label for a relationship comes to have meaning and how, as the cliché goes, maybe the French can teach us about love. This story was supported by a Braden Grant from the Stanford Storytelling Project. Click here to learn more about the Braden Grant: http://web.stanford.edu/group/storytelling/cgi-bin/joomla/index.php/grants.html Producer: Savannah Kopp Featuring: Laura Berrey, Guido Panel, Kelsy Wilson, Suzanne Newman, Sylvia Calle, Valerie Lincy, Anne Bayley, Dana Conley, Channa Galhenege, Coralie Ossant, Diane Bonifaix, Roberto Conradi Merci à: Estelle Halevi, Wilfried Rault, Natacha Ruck, the Stanford Storytelling Project, the PACS couples, and everyone who helped me realize this project. Music: Podington Bear, Broke for Free, Kevin MacLeod, Everybody Was In the French Resistance Image courtesy of Savannah Kopp