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Spain Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage
By RENWICK McLEAN
Published: June 30, 2005
MADRID, June 30 - The Spanish Parliament gave final approval today to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making Spain only the second nation to eliminate all legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions, according to supporters of the bill.
The measure, passed by a vote of 187 to 147, establishes that couples will have the same rights, including the freedom to marry and to adopt children, regardless of gender.
"Today, Spanish society is responding to a group of people who have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, their dignity offended, their identity denied and their freedom restricted," Prime Minister José Luis RodÃguez Zapatero told Parliament.
Spain is the fourth country to legalize gay marriage, after Canada, Holland and Belgium.
But only Canada's law, which was extended nationwide by Parliament this week, contains language as liberal as Spain's, according to gay marriage advocates.
The Spanish measure simply 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 laws in Holland and Belgium, by contrast, create a separate category of rights for same-sex couples that fall short of full equality on issues like adoption, these advocates say.
"Spain is talking about total equality," said Kursad Kahramanoglu, the secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. "The only other place in the world where this has actually happened is Canada."
The Canadian House of Commons voted Tuesday on its measure to change the traditional definition of marriage, and once the Senate formally approves it, gay marriage will be legal throughout the land.
Today's vote in Spain had been widely expected, since the bill had already been approved convincingly in a preliminary vote in April.
The bill then went to the Senate, where it was rejected in a non-binding vote, before going back to the lower house for today's final approval.
Although it had no practical effect, the Senate vote indicated the sharp opposition to the bill that has emerged in Spanish society, particularly among religious conservatives.
Some two weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people marched through downtown Madrid in protest against the bill, saying it was an assault on the institution of marriage.
The mayor of Valladolid, Francisco Javier León de la Riva, has said that he will not carry out the new law, and Catholic leaders have called on government officials to become conscientious objectors and to refuse to participate in any events involving the marriage of homosexual couples.
Shortly after the preliminary vote in April, the archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Ricard MarÃa Carlés Gordó, , compared government workers opposing the law but agreeing to carry it out to the Nazis at Auschwitz, who "believed that they had to obey the laws of the Nazi government before their own conscience."
Despite the intensity of the opposition, polls show that most Spaniards, between 55 and 65 percent, support gay marriage. Even many of those who oppose the bill passed today say they agree with allowing same-sex couples to marry but feel they should not be able to adopt children.
The law will go into effect immediately after it is published in Parliament's official bulletin, which is expected to occur within a couple of days.
By RENWICK McLEAN
Published: June 30, 2005
MADRID, June 30 - The Spanish Parliament gave final approval today to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making Spain only the second nation to eliminate all legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions, according to supporters of the bill.
The measure, passed by a vote of 187 to 147, establishes that couples will have the same rights, including the freedom to marry and to adopt children, regardless of gender.
"Today, Spanish society is responding to a group of people who have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, their dignity offended, their identity denied and their freedom restricted," Prime Minister José Luis RodÃguez Zapatero told Parliament.
Spain is the fourth country to legalize gay marriage, after Canada, Holland and Belgium.
But only Canada's law, which was extended nationwide by Parliament this week, contains language as liberal as Spain's, according to gay marriage advocates.
The Spanish measure simply 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 laws in Holland and Belgium, by contrast, create a separate category of rights for same-sex couples that fall short of full equality on issues like adoption, these advocates say.
"Spain is talking about total equality," said Kursad Kahramanoglu, the secretary general of the International Lesbian and Gay Association. "The only other place in the world where this has actually happened is Canada."
The Canadian House of Commons voted Tuesday on its measure to change the traditional definition of marriage, and once the Senate formally approves it, gay marriage will be legal throughout the land.
Today's vote in Spain had been widely expected, since the bill had already been approved convincingly in a preliminary vote in April.
The bill then went to the Senate, where it was rejected in a non-binding vote, before going back to the lower house for today's final approval.
Although it had no practical effect, the Senate vote indicated the sharp opposition to the bill that has emerged in Spanish society, particularly among religious conservatives.
Some two weeks ago, hundreds of thousands of people marched through downtown Madrid in protest against the bill, saying it was an assault on the institution of marriage.
The mayor of Valladolid, Francisco Javier León de la Riva, has said that he will not carry out the new law, and Catholic leaders have called on government officials to become conscientious objectors and to refuse to participate in any events involving the marriage of homosexual couples.
Shortly after the preliminary vote in April, the archbishop of Barcelona, Cardinal Ricard MarÃa Carlés Gordó, , compared government workers opposing the law but agreeing to carry it out to the Nazis at Auschwitz, who "believed that they had to obey the laws of the Nazi government before their own conscience."
Despite the intensity of the opposition, polls show that most Spaniards, between 55 and 65 percent, support gay marriage. Even many of those who oppose the bill passed today say they agree with allowing same-sex couples to marry but feel they should not be able to adopt children.
The law will go into effect immediately after it is published in Parliament's official bulletin, which is expected to occur within a couple of days.
-- Maybe Ben K could explain it to me 
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