Spouse, not partner. “Partner” includes people who aren’t legally married; the US (or any other government) shouldn’t be expending any more resources getting same-sex-unmarried-partners than opposite-sex ones.
And principles of “equality for all” from the country which has a limited range of “protected classes” sounds like a joke.
France did not veto it, since it never came to a vote, the USA having failed to gather a majority (a majority was technically pointless in face of a French veto, but would have shown that the US position had a large support and that the failure of the proposition was entirely attributable to France’s ill will).
Also, according to what I read at the time, France too threatened countries with loss of foreign aid (particularly EU subventions). So, I doubt France gained brownie points on this one.