Spain Supports Tolerance
Spain's new socialist government has netted an important victory for its homosexual citizens by overruling the Senate and passing a law that allows gay couples to marry and adopt children. The bill passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies by a vote of 187 to 147. This makes Spain the 3rd European country to sanction same-sex marriage and the 2nd country to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. The law takes affect in one month's time with already 5,000 gay couples lining up to get married, according to the BBC.Despite the overwhelming public support (over 60% support same-sex marriage), there was strong opposition from both conservatives in both the upper (where the measure was rejected) and lower houses and the Roman Catholic Church. A Roman Catholic group presented members of the parliament with a 600,000 signature petition opposing the law and asking for a referendum on the issue.
According to Guardian, the Catholic Church has played a very visible role in its opposition:
The church is so opposed to the bill it took the rare step of endorsing a rally in which hundreds of thousands, including 20 bishops, marched through Madrid protesting against the legislation on June 18.It is refreshing to know that despite the intolerant attitudes I have come to expect in the US, other countries are moving in the opposite direction. I also applaud the overwhelming Catholic population in Spain for thinking for themselves instead of listening to the hateful dogma spewing out of the Church.
Late last year, the spokesman for the Spanish bishops conference, Antonio MartÃnez Camino, said that allowing gay marriage was like "imposing a virus on society - something false that will have negative consequences for social life".
posted by the prisoner @ 6:35:00 AM
2 Comments:
Confused?
I thought Canada was the Third and Spain was the fourth one day after?
Canada would be the fourth. The bill still has to pass through the senate, which it is expected to.
From the Houston Chronicle on Friday:
Gay rights advocates in Canada expressed confidence that their country will become the next nation in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, as early as next week. The legislation now moves to the Senate, which is an appointed body with no veto authority, where the measure is expected to pass easily.
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