Spain Becomes Third Country in the World to Legalise Gay Marriages

Spain has legalised same-sex marriage, making it the third country in the world after Belgium and the Netherlands.

The vote overruled the rejection of the bill by 131 to 119 in Spain’s upper house, the Senate, last week.

Lesbian rights activist Beatriz Gimeno said "This victory in Spain will make many other countries start the battle for equality because it is possible.

"If Spain, a Catholic and southern Mediterranean country with a short history of policies in protecting social freedoms can do it, it is perfectly possible that any other European country can do it."

Zapatero put same-sex marriage on the political agenda the day he was confirmed as prime minister, and has been given the support of other parties.
The new law will not only give same-sex marriages equal legal status, but also the right to adopt children.

The Roman Catholic Church, the dominant church in Spain, and other conservative groups have fiercely opposed the bill, however.

The Church held a rally against the proposal on 18 June in which some 20 bishops and hundreds of thousands of marchers took part.

On Wednesday a petition with 60,000 signatures was presented to Spanish legislators by Roman Catholic lay group Spanish Family Forum, who are opposed to gay marriage, as a last-minute protest.

Last month the same group presented 500,000 signatures to the socialist government under Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, requesting a referendum on the issue.

The Vatican, under the new leadership of Pope Benedict XVI, condemned the Spanish government's bill earlier in April this year, as well as numerous Spanish mayors.

According to the BBC, a senior Vatican official described the bill as iniquitous and said Roman Catholic officials should be prepared to lose their jobs rather than co-operate with the law.

Members of the Church have also warned of the detrimental effect the new law might have on Spanish society.

Speaking at a Spanish Bishops Conference late last year, Antonio Martinez Camino said that legalising gay marriage was like "imposing a virus on society, something false that will have negative consequences for social life."

The bill will become law in a month's time, accelerating the secularisation of a country once so staunchly Roman Catholic. Belgium and the Netherlands are the only other EU states to recognise same-sex marriage.