French court allows gay French-Moroccan couple to wed

France’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that a gay French-Moroccan couple are allowed to marry despite the North African kingdom’s refusal to recognise same-sex marriages.

France legalised gay marriage in 2013, but a 1981 agreement between France and Morocco says marriages between French and Moroccans are subject to the law of their respective countries.

The gay couple first took the case to court after a city hall in France had refused to wed them, citing the 1981 convention, local media reported.

But on Wednesday, the appeals court ruled that as long as a foreign partner has a connection with France, such as residence, then the marriage must be permitted under French law.

Morocco is one of 11 countries to have signed an agreement with France requiring their citizens to respect his or her own nation’s laws on marriage. Other countries to have signed the agreement include Algeria, Laos, Cambodia, Poland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, Kosovo and Slovenia.

The court’s decision, however, could create a precedent that would allow gay and lesbian nationals from those countries to wed in France.

France's first same-sex marriage took place on May 29, 2013 in the southern city of Montpellier.