Burnt Orange Report

Here a Marriage, There a Marriage

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

So goes Canada, so goes... Spain?

First, from the North...

The Liberals' controversial same-sex marriage legislation has passed final reading in the House of Commons, sailing through in a 158-133 vote.

Supported by most members of the Liberals, the Bloc Québécois and the NDP, the legislation passed easily, making Canada only the third country in the world, after the Netherlands and Belgium, to officially recognize same-sex marriage.

But the passage of Bill C-38, once again, came with a political price tag for the government. Joe Comuzzi, resigned from the cabinet so he could vote against the bill – an open rebuke of the government legislation.

And then to Western Europe...

The Spanish Parliament gave final approval today to a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making Spain only the second nation to eliminate all legal distinctions between same-sex and heterosexual unions, according to supporters of the bill.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, left, Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega, right, and members of Spain's Parliament applauded after a vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

Leader of the conservative opposition Popular Party Mariano Rajoy made a statement against the bill legalizing gay marriage in the Spanish parliament.

Same-sex marriage supporters react in Spain's parliament after a vote to legalize same-sex marriage.

The measure, passed by a vote of 187 to 147, establishes that couples will have the same rights, including the freedom to marry and to adopt children, regardless of gender.

"Today, Spanish society is responding to a group of people who have been humiliated, whose rights have been ignored, their dignity offended, their identity denied and their freedom restricted," Prime Minister José Luis Rodíguez Zapatero told Parliament.

Spain is the fourth country to legalize gay marriage, after Canada, Holland and Belgium.

But only Canada's law, which was extended nationwide by Parliament this week, contains language as liberal as Spain's, according to gay marriage advocates.

The Spanish measure simply adds one sentence to existing law: "Marriage will have the same requirements and results when the two people entering into the contract are of the same sex or of different sexes."

The laws in Holland and Belgium, by contrast, create a separate category of rights for same-sex couples that fall short of full equality on issues like adoption, these advocates say.

And here is a quick list of where all the countries stand in relation to each other as well as the US. Spain actually gets to claim 3rd in the world status for legalizing gay marriage because Canada still has another vote to go through in their upper chamber.

Of course, here in Texas, we are looking forward to letting the citizens vote on banning it altogether, because we like overkill in our state statutes. Oh, and gay veterans can just go find some place else to return home to after their tour of duty defending the right of their fellow citizens to strip them of their rights.