“Equal marriage for all!”, this is not a new slogan, but in these days it has mobilised thousands of Spanish citizens. With a Government headed by the People’s Party, seven years after its entry into force, the law allowing marriage for same-sex couples is now in danger. This is why an increasingly higher number of gay couples are deciding to speed up and take the plunge.
Such a delicate issue was placed under the spotlight by the declarations made by Minister of Justice Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, according to whom gay marriage is not unconstitutional. His words sparked a storm of controversy, although the Minister underlined he simply expressed his “personal opinion”. His political party, indeed, contested the norm approved by Zapatero’s Government in 2005, saying it was “unconstitutional”. The Minister promptly specified that the PP’s position on such a matter did not change and that it is waiting to see how its appeal to the Constitutional Court against the legislation would proceed. He also noted that, until that moment, the law will remain in force.
Many lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual associations took this chance to ask the PP to withdraw its appeal against marriage and adoption for gay couples, defined by the party as “unnatural practices”. They already asked to set a meeting with the party during its next congress.
Mobilisation agenda will continue with the second Conference of the Network of European LGBT Family Associations (NELFA) that will be held in Lloret de Mar, on April 29-30, 2012. But the most important protest march will take place in Madrid on June 30, during the Gay Pride parade. “Its organizers say it will be a very political-oriented march, whose aim is to defend and claim a basic right, that of having a family”.
As emerges from the data collected by LGBT associations, in Spain there are more than 25’000 gay and lesbian married couples, but there are no statistics regarding the number of minors depending on them.
Criticisms also involve Constitutional Court which, up to now, has made no finding on this issue. “There is a sword of Damocles hanging on our heads,” says Antonio Poveda, president of the FELGTB association. “We do not understand why the judiciary needs so much time to decide. The appeal of the PP is moral and has nothing to do with Constitution.”
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