France joined England in taking one more crucial step on the road to marriage equality today when the French assembly passed the controversial gay marriage and adoption bill.

The AP reports:

France’s lower house of parliament on Tuesday approved a sweeping bill to legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt children, handing a major legislative victory to President Francois Hollande’s Socialists on a divisive social issue.

The measure, approved in the National Assembly in a 329-to-229 vote, puts France on track to join about a dozen mostly European nations that allow gay marriage and comes despite a string of recent demonstrations by opponents of the so-called “marriage for all” bill…The overall bill now goes to the Senate, which is also controlled by the Socialists and their allies.

“This law is a first necessary step, a social evolution that benefits society overall,” said Socialist representative Corinne Narassiguin. “Opening up marriage and adoption to homosexual couples is a very beautiful advance … It is an emblematic vote, a vote that will mark history.”