Spain's lower house of parliament has approved the right of homosexual couples to marry and adopt children.
The government-backed bill now passes to the Senate, where it is expected to get final approval in the coming weeks.
Under the proposed bill, Spanish Civil Law would include the phrase: "Matrimony shall have the same requisites and effects regardless of whether the persons involved are of the same or different sex."
The Spanish Bishops Conference, which has opposed the bill from its conception, says it goes "against the common good" and that it was "unfair that real marriage should be treated the same as the union of persons of the same sex".
[Socialist Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez] Zapatero, before the vote, was asked how he felt the newly elected Pope Benedict XVI might greet the news. "If the new Pope wants to say something about it, I'm prepared to respect whatever he says, he can count on my respect for him," he said, according to the Associated Press news agency.
"One of the guarantees of democracy is the freedom of religion, freedom of opinion and freedom to carry out a political project with the citizens' vote."
What gets me is that it apparently has the support of the majority of the population, as well. It also caught my attention that it didn't bother to couch it in terms of "civil unions" or whatnot; it just declares that marriages are equal regardless. For some reason this damn near made my day.
Song: The Fall, "I'm Going To Spain"
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