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Spain Unveils Controversial Gay Marriage Law
Fri Oct 1, 2004 10:17 AM ET
By Emma Graham-Harrison
MADRID (Reuters) - A controversial law that would give gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry, divorce and adopt children as heterosexuals was approved by Spain's Socialist government Friday.
The draft legislation, which now goes to parliament, has sparked a furious reaction from the Roman Catholic church, which warned that it risks "introducing a virus into society."
However, polls show the move enjoys firm support from the country's increasingly liberal population.
The law will make traditionally Catholic Spain only the third country in the world to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands and Belgium. Some other nations have provisions for recognizing committed same-sex unions.
"We are putting an end to centuries of discrimination ... Spain is now in the vanguard of Europe and the world in fighting this discrimination," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference.
The move seals a remarkable transition since the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco, who banned homosexuality.
The minority Socialist government is almost certain of getting the bill through parliament with support from small groups, gay activists say.
Even the main center-right opposition party has said it supports legalizing some form of gay unions, although it does not believe they should be the same as heterosexual marriages.
In the United States, where same-sex unions have become a controversial issue, both President Bush and challenger John Kerry say they oppose gay marriage.
PIONEERING CHOICE
Activists say the government made a pioneering choice in opting to change Spain's existing civil code to cover gay couples, rather than creating a separate law to govern same-sex unions, which could have led to more subtle discrimination.
Particularly important to many couples, but among the most controversial implications of the law, is the right to adoption.
"There are already thousands of children in Spain who live with homosexual parents ... more than 50 studies agree that there are no differences among children who grow up in homes with homosexual parents," Fernandez de la Vega said.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made legalizing gay marriage a key pledge in campaigns for March elections, when he won a surprise victory over the ruling center-right party in the wake of suspected al Qaeda linked bombs that killed 191.
It is part of a raft of liberal measures, including streamlined divorce and permitting embryo research, that the Church is battling, saying they threaten the moral foundations of Spanish society.
Fri Oct 1, 2004 10:17 AM ET
By Emma Graham-Harrison
MADRID (Reuters) - A controversial law that would give gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry, divorce and adopt children as heterosexuals was approved by Spain's Socialist government Friday.
The draft legislation, which now goes to parliament, has sparked a furious reaction from the Roman Catholic church, which warned that it risks "introducing a virus into society."
However, polls show the move enjoys firm support from the country's increasingly liberal population.
The law will make traditionally Catholic Spain only the third country in the world to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands and Belgium. Some other nations have provisions for recognizing committed same-sex unions.
"We are putting an end to centuries of discrimination ... Spain is now in the vanguard of Europe and the world in fighting this discrimination," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega told a news conference.
The move seals a remarkable transition since the 1975 death of dictator Francisco Franco, who banned homosexuality.
The minority Socialist government is almost certain of getting the bill through parliament with support from small groups, gay activists say.
Even the main center-right opposition party has said it supports legalizing some form of gay unions, although it does not believe they should be the same as heterosexual marriages.
In the United States, where same-sex unions have become a controversial issue, both President Bush and challenger John Kerry say they oppose gay marriage.
PIONEERING CHOICE
Activists say the government made a pioneering choice in opting to change Spain's existing civil code to cover gay couples, rather than creating a separate law to govern same-sex unions, which could have led to more subtle discrimination.
Particularly important to many couples, but among the most controversial implications of the law, is the right to adoption.
"There are already thousands of children in Spain who live with homosexual parents ... more than 50 studies agree that there are no differences among children who grow up in homes with homosexual parents," Fernandez de la Vega said.
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero made legalizing gay marriage a key pledge in campaigns for March elections, when he won a surprise victory over the ruling center-right party in the wake of suspected al Qaeda linked bombs that killed 191.
It is part of a raft of liberal measures, including streamlined divorce and permitting embryo research, that the Church is battling, saying they threaten the moral foundations of Spanish society.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved. [source]
