Jean-Claude Van Damme Slammed For Same-Sex Marriage Comments

The actor made the remarks during an appearance on the French chat show ‘On n’est pas couché’ over the weekend…
 
Jean-Claude Van Damme is facing backlash for comments he made about same-sex marriage during an appearance on French TV over the weekend.
 
Van Damme made the offensive remarks during an appearance as a panelist on the French talk show On n’est pas couché on Saturday evening (June 30).
 
Van Damme clashed with the French Minister for Gender Equality, Marlène Schiappa, on a number of occasions during the show with the pair coming to a head after Van Damme commented that a woman’s role was to take care of the children while a man goes out to provide for the family.
 
According to Pink News, Schiappa hit back: “According to your theory, if a man marries another man or a woman marries a woman – how does that work?”
 
Van Damme is then said to have replied, “Men marry other men? Men get married, women get married, dogs get married… everybody is getting married and everybody is getting divorced.”
 
After the audience then laughed, Schiappa hit back: “I’m sorry, but this is not funny. This is the day of the Pride parade where people march to defend their rights.”
 
She reportedly went on, “I find this shocking. There are people who are beaten and insulted because they are homosexual. We need to support them rather than mocking them, saying they are dogs.”
 
Despite his comments, Van Damme then attempted to defend himself by saying: “I have a lot of friends who are gay. If they want to get married, that’s OK.
 
“But the question is, if all the boys marry each another and all the women marry each other, how are we going to have children?”
 
French media outlet LCI have since reported that France’s broadcasting standards organisation, the Conseil Supérieur de l’Audiovisuel, has received numerous complaints from viewers about the Van Damme-featuring edition of On n’est pas couché.