[Peace-discuss] news from Spain

[Ricky Baldwin]

The news from Spain will irk the W, too, making it all
the more delightful to most of us.  It's been a long
road from Franco to now.  Remember the new Spanish
govrnment's decision to withdraw its troops from Iraq,
prompting bitter denunciation from the state-media
complex:  "..The Zapateros of Europe... seem bent on
validating the crudest caricatures of 'old European'
cowardly decadence," (NYT).  I doubt we'll hear the
same on this news, but it won't help Spain's image
with the W. -- RB

Spain OKs Gay Marriage, Defying Opponents

By MAR ROMAN, Associated Press Writer 5-30-05
 
MADRID, Spain - Parliament legalized gay marriage
Thursday, defying conservatives and clergy who opposed
making traditionally Roman Catholic Spain the third
country to allow same-sex unions nationwide. Jubilant
gay activists blew kisses to lawmakers after the vote.


The measure passed the 350-seat Congress of Deputies
by a vote of 187 to 147. The bill, part of the ruling
Socialists' aggressive agenda for social reform, also
lets gay couples adopt children and inherit each
others' property.

The bill is now law. The Senate, where conservatives
hold the largest number of seats, rejected the bill
last week. But it is an advisory body and final say on
legislation rests with the Congress of Deputies.

After the final tally was announced, gay and lesbian
activists watching from the spectator section of the
ornate chamber cried, cheered, hugged, waved to
lawmakers and blew them kisses.

Several members of the conservative opposition Popular
Party, which was vehemently opposed to the bill,
shouted: "This is a disgrace." Those in favor stood
and clapped.

The Netherlands and Belgium are the only other two
countries that allow gay marriage nationwide. Canada's
House of Commons passed legislation Tuesday that would
legalize gay marriage; its Senate is expected to pass
the bill into law by the end of July.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero noted this
in debate before the vote.

"We were not the first, but I am sure we will not be
the last. After us will come many other countries,
driven, ladies and gentlemen, by two unstoppable
forces: freedom and equality," he told the chamber.

Zapatero said the reform of Spanish legal code simply
adds one dry paragraph of legalese but means much
more.

He called it "a small change in wording that means an
immense change in the lives of thousands of citizens.
We are not legislating, ladies and gentlemen, for
remote unknown people. We are expanding opportunities
for the happiness of our neighbors, our work
colleagues, our friends, our relatives."

Zapatero lacks a majority in the chamber but got help
from small regional-based parties that tend to be his
allies.

Spanish gay couples can get married as soon as the law
is published in the official government registry. This
could come as early as Friday, or within two weeks at
the latest, parliament's press office said.

Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy said after the vote
that Zapatero has deeply divided Spain and should have
sought a consensus in parliament that recognized
same-sex unions but didn't call them marriage. Rajor
said that if the vast majority of countries in the
world don't accept gay marriage, including some run by
Socialists, there must be a reason.

"I think the prime minister has committed a grave act
of irresponsibility," Rajor told reporters.

Beatriz Gimeno, a longtime leader of the gay rights
movement in Spain, held back tears as she hugged her
partner Boti after the vote.

"It is a historic day for the world's homosexuals. We
have been fighting for many years," Gimeno said. "Now
comes the hardest part, which is changing society's
mentality."

The gay marriage bill was the boldest and most
divisive initiative of the liberal social agenda
Zapatero has embarked on since taking office in April
2004. Parliament overhauled Spain's 25-year-old
divorce law on Wednesday, also irking the church, by
letting couples end their marriage without a mandatory
separation or having to state a reason for the
split-up, as required under the old law.

He has also pushed through legislation allowing
stem-cell research and wants to loosen Spain's
restrictive abortion law. 

The Roman Catholic Church, which held much sway over
the government just a generation ago when Gen.
Francisco Franco was in power, had adamantly opposed
gay marriage. In its first display of anti-government
activism in 20 years, it endorsed a June 18 rally in
which hundreds of thousands marched through Madrid in
opposition to the bill. Some 20 bishops took part in
the June 18 rally. 

On Wednesday, a Catholic lay group called the Spanish
Family Forum presented lawmakers with a petition
bearing 600,000 signatures as a last-minute protest. 
Late last year, the spokesman for the Spanish Bishops
Conference, Antonio Martinez Camino said that allowing
gay marriage was like "imposing a virus on society —
something false that will have negative consequences
for social life." 

Despite the street protests in Madrid and elsewhere
and the petition drive, polls suggest Spaniards
supported gay marriage. 

A survey released in May by pollster Instituto Opina
said 62 percent of Spaniards support the government's
action on this issue, and 30 percent oppose it. The
poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points. But
surveys show Spaniards about evenly split over whether
gay couples should be allowed to adopt children.




		
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