Spain approves gay marriage bill (awaiting parliamentary approval) (BBC)

[Endangered Specie]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3706414.stm
{
The Spanish government has approved a draft law which will legalise homosexual marriages.
The bill gives same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples, including the right to adopt children.

The Roman Catholic Church and conservative opposition have fiercely opposed the move, which opinion polls suggest has the public's support.

If the bill is approved by parliament, it will make Spain the third EU country to authorise gay marriages.
}

[David__77]

1. HIstory is already written--this is inevitable.

The right knows this--the savvier of them anyway. I hope that there is no backlash in Spain. Most everyone identifies as Catholic. But the church was Franco's best friend and I think that most would just assume that the black robed would-be political advisors simply stay in their churches.

[Quetzal]

2. Zapatero sure has been pissing off the Catholic Church lately

He is not only legalizing gay marriage in defiance of the Church - he is also revoking a large portion of their funding that they receive from the state.

Funding for Church to be slashed by Spanish

The Spanish government sparked a furious row yesterday after it emerged that it had drawn up a timetable to halve state funding of the Roman Catholic Church and to ban crucifixes from public buildings.

The Socialist government has already pedged to confront the Church ideologically and fiscally and to transform Spain into a fully secular society by scrapping the Church's "privileged position in society".

The newspaper El Mundo reported yesterday that the government has now drawn up a timetable to break the bonds, removing any lingering hopes that it might reach an accommodation.

The government plans to put an end to the arrangement whereby Spaniards can offer a percentage of their taxes to the Church. This arrangement contributes £54 million a year to Church funds.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/09/25/wspain25.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/09/25/ixworld.html

And another Gay Marriage Article in Spain

Catholic Spain unveils gay marriage law

MADRID (Reuters) - A controversial law that would give gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry, divorce and adopt children as heterosexuals has been approved by Spain's Socialist government.

The draft legislation, which now goes to parliament, has sparked a furious reaction from the Roman Catholic church, which warned that it risks "introducing a virus into society".

However, polls show the move enjoys firm support from the country's increasingly liberal population.

The law will make traditionally Catholic Spain only the third country in the world to legalise gay marriage after the Netherlands and Belgium. Some other nations have provisions for recognising committed same-sex unions.

http://www.reuters.co.uk/newsPackageArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=594947§ion=news

[Armand04]

3. Laicism as our principle, religion as our election

Gay Marriage Upsets Spain's Catholic Church

Zapatero said he'd tackle the Church's "unfair advantages"



A Spanish bill allowing gay marriage is expected to go to parliament has the Catholic Church up in arms. One bishop said it was like unleashing a virus. Other European countries already allow some form of gay unions.

When Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero took office in April he promised to remove the Catholic Church's influence on Spanish society by easing divorce rules, softening abortion laws and legalizing gay marriage.



More ...

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,1564,1341356,00.html

Secular societies for religious - by personal option - indviduals. Is this so difficoult to understand?. Bravo, Zapatero.