Spain Legalizes Gay Marriage; Law Is Among the Most Liberal
By RENWICK McLEAN
Published: July 1, 2005 - New York Times
(Photo 1) Jasper Juinen/Associated Press
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, left, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, right, and members of Spain's Parliament applauded after a vote to legalize same-sex marriage.
(Photo 2) Jasper Juinen/Associated Press
Leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party Mariano Rajoy made a statement against the bill legalizing gay marriage in the Spanish parliament.
(Photo 3) Pedro Armestre/ AFP -- Getty Images
Same-sex marriage supporters react in Spain's parliament after a vote to legalize same-sex marriage.
MADRID, June 30 - The Spanish Parliament voted Thursday to legalize gay marriage, giving final approval to a bill that would make Spain, a predominantly Catholic country, the first nation to eliminate all legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions, according to supporters of the measure.
The bill, passed 187 to 147, says couples will have the same rights, including the freedom to marry and to adopt children, regardless of gender.
Three other countries, the Netherlands, Belgium and Canada, have voted to legalize gay marriage. But only Canada's laws, which do not yet apply to all of the country, contain language as liberal as Spain's, according to advocates of the law.
The Spanish measure merely adds one sentence to existing law: "Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or of different sexes."
The Dutch and Belgian laws, by contrast, create separate rights for same-sex couples that do not fully match those of heterosexuals on issues like adoption, advocates say.
"Spain is talking about total equality," said Kursad Kahramanoglu, co-secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association, which is based in Brussels. "Lots of people 15 or 20 years ago would have thought it would be impossible for Catholic Spain to get to this moment," he said.
Catholic leaders, including Vatican officials, lobbied furiously against the bill, calling it an assault on the institution of marriage and a threat to social stability.
"Faced with such a distressing and grave situation, we must trust that Spanish society will know how to stand up for marriage, family and children," the Spanish Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement on Thursday.
Some bishops said that if the bill became law, Catholics working in the government should refuse to carry it out, a suggestion that at least one mayor, Francisco Javier Le??n de la Riva of Valladolid, has said he intends to follow.
But the church was unable to rally enough support to derail the bill, though 80 percent of Spaniards identify themselves as Catholic.
"The church has lost a lot of influence on family issues," said Gerardo Meil, a sociology professor at the Autonomous University in Madrid. "The level of liberalism in the realm of individual rights has increased tremendously in recent years."
Polls show that 55 to 65 percent of Spaniards support gay marriage.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/01/international/europe/01spain.html
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