Catholic Portugal set to legalise gay marriage

[ccharles000]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100106/lf_afp/portugalsocietygayLISBON

(AFP) – Catholic Portugal, traditionally one of Europe's most socially conservative countries, is expected to approve the legalisation of gay marriage on Friday with a minimum of fuss.

With the governing Socialists and other left-wing parties enjoying a strong majority, the new law is likely to sail through the first reading debate and gain final approval before a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, due in Portugal in May.

In contrast to Spain, where the lead-up to the legalisation of gay marriage in 2005 brought hundreds of thousands of demonstrators onto the streets, the bill in Portugal has provoked only muted opposition even from the right.

While normally vocal on the role of marriage and the family in society, the Catholic Church has refused to mobilise on a subject which, according to Lisbon's Cardinal Patriarch Jose Policarpo, is "parliament's responsibility".

"I think the Portuguese people have learnt one of the fundamental tenets of democracy: respect for the rights of the individual," Miguel Vale de Almeida, Portugal's first openly-gay lawmaker who was elected in September, told AFP.

Vale de Almeida, who is the Socialists' pointman on the legislation, said there is now a political majority in favour of gay marriage and that it is "too simplistic to link Catholicism and conservatism."

[Ken Burch]

1. Congratulations to Portugal!

And it's going to be fun to watch Bill-0 freak out on THIS one, like the vicious little Blue Shirt wannabe he is.

[proteus_lives]

2. Good for them!

:thumbsup:

[alp227]

3. When even heavily RELIGIOUS countries like Portugal are granting marriage equality before America...

it surely shows how much influence the Christian Right in the "land of the free" has in our government that's supposed to be "separate from church".