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.
The court of appeal has fined Thomas Moutame, who is the mayor of Taputapuatea on Raiatea, 5,000 US dollars.
Moutame has also been ordered to pay 1,800 dollars to the couple.
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 claimed religious and moral objections to the sex change and unsuccessfully appealed his conviction.
Moutame has said he is prepared to go to the highest court in France to prove that there is no law to sanction his refusal.
