Gay marriage in Portugal: the very first attempt

[quote:b7dda758df]A Portuguese lesbian couple filed for a marriage licence today in an attempt to open a legal battle they hope will lead to the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the staunchly Roman Catholic country.

Helena Paixao, 35, and Teresa Pires, 28, applied for the licence at a Lisbon registry office under the glare of dozens of cameras.

Officials said they would study the request and give their decision tomorrow.

As Portuguese law currently does not allow for same-sex marriage the request is widely expected to be turned down.

But the couple, who have been together for over three years, said they plan to argue in court that this goes against the constitution, which was altered in 2004 to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

The two women are the first gay couple to mount a public challenge to marriage laws in Portugal, where the gay community has a low profile.

They sparked a media debate over the issue of same-sex marriage earlier this year when they announced their intention to seek a marriage licence.

Gay couples were in 2001 given some of the same legal and tax benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples in common law marriages however public opinion polls show a majority of Portuguese oppose allowing gay marriages.

But since neighbouring Spain legalised same-sex marriage and adoptions by gay couples last year, pressure from gay groups has been mounting in Portugal for Lisbon to do the same.

Last month Britain became the latest country to recognise some form of gay union, following Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain.

The Daily Telegraph e The Sunday Times [/quote:b7dda758df]

This is just one of the many news that are coming out (not only in Portugal) about the first attempt by a gay couple to get married in this country. This is actually a big deal, since Portugal, for those of you that may not know this, is a pretty catholic and thus conservative country, especially because of the long time the fascist regime created by Salazar was in power (1931-1974). The regime was based on repression, authority and very tradicional and patriotic values, as well as strong catholic values, which led to the growth of a conservative country.
However, nowadays, Portugal is much more liberal, as one can tell by the socialist (liberal) government that is in power, much like the one in Spain, except the portugese government (surprisingly) has performed rather conservative measures, unlike the spanish one.

Ok, getting back to the subject: this is the very first time a gay couple tries to get married and they're trying to take advantage of a discrepancy in the law, caused by an alteration made in 2004 that states there can be no discrimination based on sexual orientation. Except that the constitution states that only two people of a different sex can marry, which is pure discrimination, as argued by the couple's lawyer.

Well, all I can say is that this is really good, because it finally raises awareness for the situation, in spite of the government's claims that this subject isn't a "priority" for the country. Yeah, I can see how a civilized country, that belongs to the European Union, really doesn't "need" to stop discriminating people just because of their sexual preferences... And nevermind that England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, etc., etc., all made same-sex marriage one of their "priorities" by simply... allowing it.

If you want to find out more about this (english/spanish/portugese) go to: http://igualdadenocasamento.blogspot.com/
or (portugese):
www.randomprecision.blogspot.com