Opponents of
same-sex marriage in Spain present petition ahead of final
vote

A Catholic lay group opposed to marriage equality for same-sex couples presented Spanish lawmakers Wednesday with a petition bearing 600,000 signatures, a day before the parliament was expected to legalize same-sex unions in Spain. The Spanish Family Forum said the signatures were in addition to half a million others presented last month pressing the Socialist government to call a referendum on whether Spain should institute same-sex marriage. "We are asking for a referendum, and then we'll know what Spaniards really want," said Luis Carbonel, president of a group that is part of the forum. The organization also wants conservative Spanish lawmakers opposed to same-sex marriage to file a lawsuit seeking to have it declared unconstitutional on the grounds that marriage can be the union of only a man and a woman. Outside the parliament building, a small group of demonstrators wore white masks with red X's over the mouth to symbolize their view that Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is silencing traditional Spanish families. The bill, expected to be passed Thursday in the lower house of parliament, legalizes same-sex marriage and gives same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual ones, including the right to adopt children and inherit each other's property. Zapatero's bill has infuriated the church in this mainly Roman Catholic country. The church took the rare step of endorsing a rally on June 18 in which hundreds of thousands of people marched through Madrid to oppose the same-sex marriage bill. Some 20 bishops took part in the rally. Late last year the spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, Antonio Martinez Camino, said allowing same-sex couples to marry was like "imposing a virus on society, something false that will have negative consequences for social life." A survey released in May by pollster Instituto Opina said 62% of Spaniards support the government's action on this issue and 30% oppose it. The poll had a margin of error of three points. (AP)