Same-sex marriage in Spain

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation, search
Same-sex marriage
Performed nationwide in
Belgium (2003)
Canada (2005)
Netherlands (2001)
Spain (2005)
Performed in some regions in
United States: MA (2004)
Debate in other countries and regions
Aruba
Australia
China
France
Ireland
Romania
South Africa
United Kingdom
United States: CA NY OR
See also
Civil union
Registered partnership
Domestic partnership
Same-sex marriage timeline
Listings by country

In 2004, the new Socialist government of Spain began a process to legalise same-sex marriage in Spain. The proposed legislation would also legalise adoption by same-sex couples. It was passed by the Cortes on June 30, 2005 and officially published on July 2, 2005. Same-sex marriage officially became legal on Sunday, July 3, 2005.

Contents

History

During the 1990s, several of the city councils and autonomous communities of Spain had opened registers for civil unions that allowed unmarried couples of any sex to enjoy some local benefits. Also Spanish law allowed single people to adopt children. Thus a same-sex couple could de facto adopt a child, but the partner who was not the legal parent had no rights in case of breakup or decease.

On June 30, 2004, Spanish minister of justice Juan Fernando López Aguilar announced that the Spanish Congress of Deputies had provisionally approved a government plan for legislation to extend the right to marriage to same-sex couples. This would fulfil a promise made by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero the day of his inauguration.

At the same time, Minister López announced a proposition (introduced by the Convergència i Unió party) to introduce legal status for both opposite- and same-sex common-law unions (parejas de hecho, "de facto unions"), and another to permit transgendered people to legally change their name and sex designation without the requirement of surgery.

The bill on same-sex marriage was approved by the Cabinet on October 1, 2004. It was submitted to Parliament on December 31 [1] [2], and passed by the lower house on April 21, 2005 [3] [4]. However, the bill was rejected by the Senate on June 22, 2005. It then returned to the lower house, which has an override power at its disposal, and on June 30, 2005, the lower house gave final approval to the bill with 187 yes, 147 no and four abstentions.

With the final approval of the law on July 2 – including royal assent and publication in the Boletín Oficial del Estado – Spain became the third country in the world to formally legalize same-sex marriages nationwide, after the Netherlands and Belgium. For more information, read the main article about Same-sex marriage.

The first gay wedding took place eight days after the approval of the law. It was celebrated in the council chamber in the Madrid suburb of Tres Cantos. Carlos Baturin and Emilio Menéndez were the first gay couple to be legally married in Spain.

On September 4, 2005, The spanish newspaper La Razón published data from 273 of a total of 430 Offices of Civil Registry counting a total of 24 same-sex marriages to the date, from over 35000 marriages. The newspaper concludes that the data contradicts the justifications of the government about this law being a main priority of the legislature based on popular demand, and also the claims from gay collectives about how this law would directly benefit about 5-10 percent of the spanish poblation. [5]

Foreigners

Shortly after the law was passed, doubt arose about the legal status of marriage to non-Spaniards, when a Spaniard and an Indian national living in Catalonia were denied a marriage license on the grounds that India does not permit same-sex marriage. (365gay.com)

However, on July 22 and also in Catalonia, another judge married a Spanish woman with her Argentinian national partner. This judge disagreed with his colleague’s decision and gave preference to the right of marriage over the fact that the laws of the country of origin of the other woman don't allow same-sex marriage.

On 27 July, the Junta de Fiscales de Sala, a body of lawyers that advises the national attorney general's office, issued an opinion that Spaniards can marry same-sex foreigners from countries that do not permit same-sex marriage. [6] A ruling published in the Official State Bulletin stated:

a marriage between a Spaniard and a foreigner, or between foreigners of the same sex resident in Spain, shall be valid as a result of applying Spanish material law, even if the foreigner's national legislation does not allow or recognize the validity of such marriages. (AP)

It is not certain whether non-resident foreigners can visit Spain to marry. At present, the only country with same-sex marriage known to permit this is Canada; Belgium and the Netherlands will only marry their own residents or citizens.

Reaction

The news is the result of long activism by Spanish non-heterosexual groups, such as the State Federation of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals (FELGT). A poll by Spain's Centre for Sociological Investigations published in July 2005 suggests that 66% of Spaniards are in favour of the measure. [7] Another poll taken by Instituto Opina/Cadena Ser a day before the bill passed puts support of the same-sex marriage at 62.1% and support of adoption by same-sex couples at 49.1%. [8][9]

However, the news was met with concern by Catholic authorities, including Pope John Paul II, who feared a weakening of family values, and his successor Pope Benedict XVI. While the Church formally opposes heterosexual non-religious marriage, its opposition is not currently vocal, as shown by the lack of objections to the marriage of Felipe, Prince of Asturias to Letizia Ortiz, who had divorced from a previous civil marriage.

Prime Minister Zapatero has responded to Catholic criticisms by saying:

These are decisions for freedom, to allow free people to choose freely. They are not meant to attack any moral position, since they belong to the civil realm, determined by the legitimate will of the majority of the citizens. ... Spain is a democracy whose sovereignty resides in the Parliament, which passes laws on social life. I deeply respect all citizens' religious convictions, and it's true that there are many Catholics in Spain. However, while respecting the best spirit of the Church's doctrine, we must make the difference between civil space and the intimate space of personal conviction. The worst occurs when the two are confused.

Opponents to these measures often claim that the government has taken advantage of the majority agreement to legally equalize homosexual and heterosexual couples to try to weaken the meaning of matrimonio (marriage), traditionally defined as a couple of different sexes. Many also express concern over the possibility of gay couples adopting and bringing up children, and argue that adoption is not a right for the parents, but for the adopted.

Protestors against the measure claim to have rallied 1.5 million people against what they consider an unnecessary attack on the traditional family; official sources counted 160,000 at the same event. Two weeks after this rally, and coinciding with the Gay Pride Day, 2.0 million people marched in favour of the new law for gays and lesbians, organizers' claimed (official sources counted 165,000 at the same event, although admit that this was not counting the people who were later present at the continuing celebratory party in Chueca, Madrid's gay quarter, where there was a massive affluence of people).

Gay associations reply that adoption by homosexual couples has been existing de facto for a long time in Spain, since many gay couples are bringing up minors adopted by one of the members. Adoption by same-sex couples was already legal in Navarre, Aragon, the Basque Country, and Catalonia, even before the same-sex marriage law allowed these adoptions to be legal nationwide.

Confidence and election polls taken around and after the bill's passage suggest that Zapatero and the Socialist Worker’s Party were not damaged in support from the overall population. [10][11][12]

On July 21, 2005, a judge from the city of Denia refused to issue a marriage licence to a lesbian couple. The judge also filed a constitutional challenge against the same-sex marriage law with the Spanish Constitutional Court. The judge bases the challenge on article 32 of Spain's constitution that contains the phrase "Men and women have the right to contract marriage with full juridical equality." In August 2005, another judge from Gran Canaria refused licenses to 3 same-sex couples and mounted another constitutional challenge. [13]

The conservative People's Party has decided to initiate a separate constitutional challenge, a decision that's causing a fracture inside the party itself.

External links

Personal tools
In other languages