A mayor in French Polynesia has been convicted for abuse of power after he refused to marry a couple because the woman had had a sex change.
Thomas Moutame, who is the mayor of Taputapuatea on Raiatea, has been declared ineligible to hold office for a year and fined 5,000 US dollars.
Moutame claimed religious and moral objections to the sex change.
In 2007, he refused to officiate despite the couple presenting a document of a tribunal which showed that it recognised that the bride no longer was a man.
Moutame has told local radio that he will appeal against the conviction, adding he is prepared to go to the highest court in France to prove that there is no law to sanction his refusal.
