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Spain: Same-sex marriages get the go-ahead

01 August 2004

On 1 October 2004 the Spanish government approved the plan for a draft law to allow same-sex marriages, and to begin a process to eliminate discrimination "based on sexual orientation". The plan, drafted by the Justice Ministry, is set to modify the Spanish civil code by altering Article 44 to state that "The gender of either spouse-to-be does not prevent the celebration of the wedding, nor its effects". A further 13 articles will also be amended to substitute the expression "man and wife" for a generic term, "spouse". The draft law's explanation indicates that "the Spanish social reality in our time has become much richer, plural and dynamic than the society in which the Código Civil arose. Co-habitation as a couple between people of the same sex...has been the object of an increasing social acceptance, overcoming deep-rooted prejudice and stigmatisation". It adds that it is time for this kind of union to obtain "formal acknowledgement by the law". Its likely effects include the exercise of new rights such as receiving an inheritance if their partner dies, opening joint bank accounts and benefiting from tax benefits for married couples, as well as the right to visit, or to be consulted about, partners who are ill in hospital without needing prior permission from their families, and the possibility of a same-sex couple adopting children.

Consejo de Ministros. Justicia "Anteproyecto de reforma del Código Civil que permitirá el matrimonio entre personas del mismo sexo", 1.10.04; available on: http://www.cittadinolex.kataweb.it/Article/0,1519,30018|22,00.html