LISBON, PORTUGAL - Portuguese gay rights campaigners submitted Thursday a petition to parliament with over 5 000 signatures urging the assembly to change the law to permit same-sex marriages.Several celebrities, literary figures and left-wing lawmakers signed the petition which demands that the law be changed since "we don't want to have second-class citizens because of their love."
Under Portuguese law, petitions with more than 4 000 valid signatures submitted to parliament must be analyzed by the assembly which can then decide whether or not to put the issue to a full debate by members of parliament.
Since neighbouring Spain legalised same-sex marriage last year, pressure from gay rights campaigners has been mounting in Portugal for Lisbon to do the same.
The issue gained prominence earlier this month when a lesbian couple filed a legal challenge to the law after their request for a marriage licence was turned down by a Lisbon registry office.
Gay rights campaigners argue the law which stipulates that marriage must be between a man and a woman is illegal as it contradicts the constitution, which was altered in 2004 to ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
Gay couples were in 2001 given some of the same legal and tax benefits enjoyed by heterosexual couples in common law marriages.
Public opinion polls show a majority of people in strongly Roman Catholic Portugal oppose allowing gay marriages.
from Independent Online
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