Spanish Senate votes down gay marriage bill News
Spanish Senate votes down gay marriage bill

[JURIST] The Spanish Senate voted 131-119 Wednesday against a bill that would legalize gay marriage. The bill had already passed the lower house of parliament [JURIST report], but faced fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative groups [AP report]. The bill is still likely to pass [Scotsman report], however, since it now returns to the lower house [El Mundo report, in Spanish] for another vote on June 30. If the law is enacted Spain would join Belguim and the Netherlands as the only European countries to allow gay marriage . BBC News has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

South Africa becomes first country on continent to legalize same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriages became legal in South Africa on November 30, 2006 as the country's Civil Union Act, 2006 went into effect, making South Africa the only country on the African continent to legalize same-sex marriage. Read the Civil Union Act, 2006.