Spain Celebrates
First Gay Marriage
Under New Law
By REUTERS from the
NYTimes on the Web, July 11, 2005
MADRID -- Spain celebrated its
first homosexual marriage on Monday under a law passed last month making it the
fourth country to legalize same-sex unions.
Emilio Menendez and Carlos Baturim tied the knot after more than 30 years as
lovers at a civil ceremony in the town of Tres Cantos, some 30 kilometers (19
miles) north of Madrid.
Casually dressed in sports jackets, the smiling couple proudly showed off their
wedding rings and marriage certificate before some 20 friends and family and
more than 50 journalists.
The Socialist government's drive to give homosexual unions equal status with
heterosexual marriage -- including inheritance and adoption rights -- has
outraged many Roman Catholics.
Hundreds of thousands of people, including bishops and nuns, protested in Madrid
last month against the reform. While some 90 percent of Spaniards are
nominally Catholics, surveys suggested that 70 percent of citizens supported
legalizing gay marriage.
The Socialists' liberal agenda is a major break with the past: Spain was
ruled from 1939-1975 by Catholic nationalist dictator Francisco Franco, who
banned homosexuality and divorce.
The three other countries to have legalized gay marriages are Canada, the
Netherlands and Belgium.
|
