Uruguay senate votes to legalize same-sex marriage
Uruguay's Senate on Tuesday voted to legalize gay marriage by approving a single law
governing matrimony for heterosexuals and homosexuals.
Senators voted 23-8
in favour of the bill, which was passed by the lower house in December. It must now
return to the lower chamber of Congress with changes.
If approved, the law
would make Uruguay the second nation in Latin America and the 12th in the world to
legalize gay marriage. Argentina legalized same-sex marriage in 2010.
The
Director of International Coordination for Human Life International, Joseph Meaney,
spoke to Christopher Wells about the new legislation: “It’s part of a trend actually
in Uruguay , which is a very liberal country by Latin American standards.”
Speaking
about the broader social context in Latin America, he noted that the legalisation
of same sex “marriage” in Argentina probably had an influence in Uruguay. He said,
“In fact, Pope Francis when he was archbishop of Buenos Aires spoke out very strongly,
and of course the bishops in Uruguay have as well.”
He said, “One thing that
is strange about Uruguay is that they actually legalised the adoption of children
by same sex couples before they legalised same sex ‘marriage’ . . . of course when
they did so, the Church protested tremendously, including Archbishop Nicolas Cotugno,
saying that is was completely against human nature and the fundamental rights of the
human being of the person.”
“But it’s a very radical agenda,” Meaney said.
“It’s not just same sex marriage, but even before they passed that, they passed civil
unions and the adoption of children by homosexual couples.”
Listen to the complete
interview of Joseph Meaney with Christopher Wells: