Portugal likely to approve gay marriages

[garbon]

LOL. BY: AMERICANS?

No, love, Europeans do actually come here despite what Marty says. That said it may have been a Brazilian so they have may have just been asking if I was Brazilian.

[clandestino]

Some news on this issue:

Same-sex marriage law backed in Portugal's parliament 

PM Jose Socrates had appealed to MPs to back the same-sex marriage law
Portugal's parliament has passed a law to legalise same-sex marriage, but rejected proposals to allow homosexual couples to adopt.

The bill was approved with the support of the governing Socialist Party and other parties further to the left.

Prime Minister Jose Socrates opened the debate with an appeal to back the law, saying it would put right an injustice that had caused unnecessary pain.

The law has been fiercely opposed by conservatives in the Catholic country.

Rightist parties had sought a national referendum on the issue following a petition that collected more than 90,000 signatures, but their proposal was rejected.

Friday's debate was at times heated, says the BBC's Alison Roberts in Lisbon, with Socialists attacking as discriminatory a counter-proposal from the centre-right Social Democrats for a new so-called civil union for same-sex couples.

The bill will now be reviewed in committee before coming back for a final vote in parliament.

If the law is ratified by President Anibal Cavaco Silva, it could come into effect in April - just a month before a visit to Portugal by Pope Benedict XVI, a staunch opponent of gay marriage.

The ratification would make Portugal the sixth country in Europe to allow same-sex marriages after Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway.

Many other countries have introduced civil partnerships, which give lesbian and gay couples some of the rights of married heterosexuals.

Now that the law was passed by the Parliament and the referendum rejected there is still one possible problem coming from the right of veto by the conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva.

There is also another possibility, that the President send the law to the constitucional court for them to access of the possibility of it being against our Constitution. In that case I think the only problem is the rejection of adoption by same sex couples that was also on the law.

How have other countries legislated on the adoption issue? It seems that this addendum will not hold long if the law is passed since it seems kind of discriminatory to forbid it on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8448640.stm

[Martim Silva]

I'm disappointed by this. With the whole crisis all over us, so many workers out of a job and so many bankers stealing, and the Left is totally preoccupied with satisyfing a handful of deviant burgeois.

I can understand the Left Block on this, as they are nothing but a 'socialite Left' (aka a way for rich city kids to pretend to be Leftists while just catering to their own little egotism), while the Socialists can do nothing with our hung parliament but try to pass worthless laws, but the participation of the Communist Party in this saddens me deeply.

This DOES NOTHING for the workers and encourages behaviours that are not helpful for the creation of productive families. Indeed, it will reduce the number of workers. How can this be a good thing? 

Of course, the Party has the policy of wrecking capitalist society as much as possible, but doing this so openly can only be detrimental. What would hard-working, unemployed factory worker parents with two kids to feed will think of this attitude?

Nothing positive, I'm certain 

[Sheilbh]

How have other countries legislated on the adoption issue? It seems that this addendum will not hold long if the law is passed since it seems kind of discriminatory to forbid it on the grounds of sexual orientation.

The UK has I believe.  Wiki has maps
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_adoption

[Queequeg]

Two girls, two cups?

[Syt]

Lucianus will enjoy this.

[Josquius]

Portugal really has become quite the bastion of liberal awesomeness lately...
On paper at least.
God knows how it really is.

[Admiral Yi]

Portugal sure has better looking dykes than we do.