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1,000 Gay Couples Wed In Spain


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1,000 Gay Couples Wed In Spain

by Malcolm Thornberry, 365Gay.com European Bureau Chief

March 2, 2006 - 7:00 pm ET

(Madrid) Since same-sex marriage became legal in Spain last year more than 1,000 gay and lesbian couples have wed a high-ranking government official said Thursday.

Pedro Zerolo, a senior member of the governing Socialist Party said that 800 same-sex marriages officially have been recorded but that the figure represents only about half of the country - those areas that are fully computerized.

Zerolo said that at least 200 marriages have been performed in other parts of Spain.

"As of today, there should be more than 1,000 same-sex couples married and about the same number of applications in processing," Zerolo, who is openly gay, told reporters in Madrid.

He said that one out of every ten marriages in Spain involves a same-sex couple.

Spain's main opposition party, the Popular Party, is challenging the marriage law in the court. The Constitutional Court is expected to hear the case later this year.

In a separate case, that of two judges who opposed same-sex marriage and asked the high court to invalidate the law, the justices in a split decision rejected it on procedural grounds, saying that civil registrars did not have the right to lodge a case on constitutional issues.

Polls suggest Spaniards support gay marriage. A survey released last year by pollster Instituto Opina said 62% of Spaniards support the government's action on gay marriage, and 30% oppose it. The poll had a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

But surveys show Spaniards about evenly split over whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children.

©365Gay.com 2006

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