Como un soplo de aire fresco...
Spanish MPs legalise gay marriage
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Dale Fuchs in Madrid
Friday July 1, 2005
The Guardian
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The Spanish parliament voted yesterday to legalise gay marriage despite protests by Roman Catholic clergy and conservative groups.
Spain is now one of only four countries in the world that grant gay couples the same status as heterosexuals, and is the only traditionally Catholic country to do so. It joins the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada, which approved gay marriage on Wednesday.
"Today Spain is a more decent country, because a decent society is one that does not humiliate its members," the prime minister, José Luis Zapatero, told parliament after the 187-147 vote, which was followed by loud applause, hugs and tears of joy by gay activists.
"This law will not engender evil," he continued, referring to church opposition, "it will save human suffering". The centre-right opposition leader, Mariano Rajoy, called the law "irresponsible" and "divisive". As protesters gathered in Puerta del Sol square in the centre of Madrid, Mr Rajoy vowed to continue the fight against the law in Spain's constitutional court.
Gay couples embraced and waved rainbow banners outside the parliament building and toasted with champagne in the streets. The predominately gay neighbourhood of Chueca buzzed in anticipation of this Saturday's annual gay pride parade.
"I'm so excited, I'm speechless. Look! I'm crying," said Beatriz Gimeno, president of the national Association of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals. She said she hoped the law would set an example for Latin America, "where homophobic murders occur every two days".
The law is expected to take effect in July. The first couple has already hurried to a civil registry in Madrid to reserve a wedding date - with television cameras in tow.
"Today is a day of love, because thousands of couples are going to ask their partners to marry them," said Miguel Angel Sanchez, president of the Triangle Foundation, raising a glass in the Plaza del Rey, where a heart-shaped sign reads "Eva and Paula".
Media surveys show that the vast majority of Spaniards support some form of equal rights for same-sex couples. Several provincial governments already permit gay couples to enter into civil unions.
But the new law goes further: it allows gay couples to adopt children. Church and conservative leaders say the law, which uses the emotionally charged term "marriage", threatens the traditional concept of family.
Earlier this month, a church-backed demonstration attracted about 180,000 people, including 20 bishops, who marched through Madrid carrying signs that read "marriage is a man and a woman" and "orphans have a right to a mother and a father". Last year the Spanish bishops' conference said the new law would act "like a virus on society".
The conservative-dominated senate rejected the law last week after hearing testimony from experts in gay adoption. One, a psychiatry professor, revived traditional prejudices, testifying that homosexuality was a "pathology" and alleging that gays and lesbians were the product of violent, alcoholic parents. Mr Zapatero had to gather a parliamentary majority sufficient to override the senate veto.
The Guardian
01/07/05
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