Portuguese government proposes legalization of gay marriage

[metta]

Portuguese government proposes legalization of gay marriage


http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/...nt-proposes-legalization-of-gay-marriage.html

 

[Royal Heart]

Sweet! Thanks for keeping us informed about the same-sex marriage legislation going on around the world, metta! This is all very encouraging!

 

[Royal Heart]

Anyone wanna hazard a guess as to why they are doing it?

Because it's the right thing to do?

 

[metta]

Prime Minister Jose Socrates, who heads the Socialist Party, pledged to introduce a gay marriage bill if returned to power in the general election, despite strong opposition from the Catholic Church.

If Parliament approves the measure, it's possible President Silva could forward the issue to the Constitutional Court, commentators have speculated in the Portuguese press.

http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=5021&MediaType=1&Category=24

 

[ViennaExpat83]

I was born and lived in Portugal until my mid-teens. Here's my view of this:

Socrates, the PM, put gay marriage as one of his top 5 priorities for his second term in a speech. It was pretty nicely worded and showed a lot of guts: he said (paraphrasing) that gay marriage would not just be a victory for gay people, but also a victory for the entire Portuguese society because it would create a society with more tolerance and equality.

I think this law has a good chance of passing because there's at least a couple more medium size left-wing parties that are are almost certainly going to vote with the Socialist Party in Parliament on this, making the "yes" vote over 50%.

There is also a very interesting background story to all this: back when Socrates was campaigning for his first term in 2003-4 the biggest opposition party decided that their only chance was to start a slur campaign. So, they started spreading the story that he was gay.
Although there were 0 proof presented the rumors spread everywhere, including the press, and everyone knew about it. Socrates reacted very coolly and said simply each time he was asked about it that he would not discuss such allegations simply because those kinds of subjects had nothing with the real issues that the country faced and what the political process of a democracy was about.
This led to basically almost everyone believing he was dodging the question and was really gay. And despite that he received over 50% of vote, something that happens about every 25-40 years in a parliamentary democracy.
In the end, it turns out the rumors were totally false and he is straight. Nobody believes he is gay anymore. But he took a very classy approach I think. He could have simply said he wasn't gay and cracked a few macho jokes. By saying those personal questions had nothing to do with serious politics he took a big risk, because everyone assumed he was gay -- but he got elected anyway.

 

[irish1]

My parents traveled to Portugal for the first time in the early 1960's. They fell in love with Portugal and the city of Lisbon.

I was too little to be a blip on their social concerns, but to this day, my father talks about how wonderful the people were.

I hope, regardless of the original intent, that gay marriage is passed there. Who knows who will have a positive effect in their lived because of it?

 

[metta]

^
(***crosses fingers***)
Thanks JB

 

[scream4ever]

^^^All sources I've read have indicated he's unlikely to veto it.