Belgium lawmakers propose gay adoption

Belgium prime minister Guy Verhofstadt's party on Monday presented proposals to allow gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, Agence France-Presse reports. Gay marriage was legalized in Belgium earlier this year. Now the Flemish Liberal Democrats want to give children of those couples the same legal rights as children of heterosexual couples, said party head Karel De Gucht. "We have always been a progressive party on ethical questions," he said, according to the Belga news agency. Two other parties in Belgium's ruling coalition, the French-speaking and Flemish-speaking socialists, plan to back the proposals, as does the opposition Francophone green group Ecolo, according to press reports. Belgium is the second country in Europe to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands.