XPost: alt.politics.miserable-failure, alt.journalism.gay-press, alt.politics.greens
XPost: alt.dislocated.ass

Madrid (CNN)Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is planning to
attend a wedding Friday, but it's not just any wedding -- it's
the marriage of two men. This is news in 2015 because Rajoy has
consistently opposed the recognition of same-sex marriage, which
became legal in Spain 10 years ago.

Cue accusations of hypocrisy and a debate about loyalty to
friends over political principles -- all of this occurring with
national elections 12 weeks away.

The wedding is in Vitoria, in the Basque country, between Rajoy
political ally Javier Maroto and his partner Josema Rodriguez.
Maroto is a senior official of the governing Popular Party, or
PP, which Rajoy leads. Not only has Rajoy said he plans to
attend; a PP colleague has disclosed he's an official witness of
the marriage.

"Will he, won't he go?" has taken up acres of Spanish media
coverage and spawned a new hashtag on Twitter: #laBodaDeMaroto
(the marriage of Maroto). While it's unlikely to dominate the
election campaign, the event has led to dissent between the
conservative and more centrist factions of Rajoy's party. It may
also be politically awkward since the party's base is among the
older and (by and large) more conservative Spaniards.

El Mundo, one of Spain's leading dailies, said Interior Minister
Jorge Fernández Diaz has warned Rajoy that attending Maroto's
nuptials would contradict the Popular Party's record. Diaz said
pointedly he did not receive an invitation. But other party
figures did. Andrea Levy -- a rising star -- said she is going
and plans to enjoy the occasion.

The opposition Socialist Party is enjoying the Prime Minister's
discomfort, congratulating Maroto on his wedding and expressing
pride that the law it passed a decade ago should have brought
happiness to so many people. Twisting the knife, party spokesman
Angeles Alvarez tweeted that Rajoy is planning to celebrate in
private what he persecutes in public.

Senior figures in the Popular Party have tried to play down the
issue. Esperanza Aguirre, who leads the PP on the Madrid City
Council, said the party is not a sect and there's room for
differing views. As for Maroto, he said he'll understand if the
Prime Minister does not attend because "he's busy with the
regional elections in Catalonia."

In an effort to limit the political fallout, Maroto said that
while his party does oppose same-sex marriage, it supports the
rights and obligations of such unions and it hasn't tried to
reverse the law in the current parliament. He said his
relationship with the Prime Minister will not be affected
whether the leader attends or not, and he doesn't want "a
private event to become a media circus."

Same-sex marriage called 'poke in the eye' to Catholics
In 2005, Spain became at that time the third country in Europe
to recognize same-sex marriage. Rajoy protested in parliament on
the day the Socialists, then in the majority, passed the law.

Since then, he has continued to insist that marriage must be
between a man and a woman -- and that same-sex couples should be
content with civil unions. As leader of the opposition, Rajoy
and others in the Popular Party challenged the law in Spain's
Constitutional Court, saying that it "perverts the basic
institution of marriage." Rajoy also said that allowing same-sex
marriage (as opposed to civil unions) was a "poke in the eye" to
Catholics.

In an 8-3 vote, the court eventually rejected the appeal. In a
ruling in 2012, the court recognized that in same-sex marriage
"a step forward is being made towards guaranteed personal
dignity and the free development of one's personality."

"In Spain there is broad social acceptance of marriage between
same-sex couples," the court added -- citing opinion polls that
support same-sex marriage.

But before the last election, many same-sex couples in Spain
feared that Rajoy would try to reverse the law if his Popular
Party won. Some hastened to tie the knot, which made the village
of Campillo de Ranas north of Madrid -- (population 184 in the
last census) -- a busy place. Its mayor had come up with a novel
way of battling Spain's crippling recession: welcoming same-sex
couples to wed.

The importance of social issues to Rajoy's supporters
Maroto's wedding has briefly diverted attention from the other
main issues of Spain's upcoming election: the economy and
Europe's refugee crisis.

Rajoy -- who has taken a hard line on migration -- eventually
agreed to the European Commission's request that Spain take some
17,000 of the current tide of refugees entering Europe. Some
cities led by left-wing parties have taken the initiative on
providing shelter and support to refugees.

The Prime Minister has focused on economic recovery as the main
achievement of the Popular Party's five years in power. Spanish
banks have been rescued, unemployment has fallen and Spain
enjoys (at 3.1%) one of the highest rates of growth in the
European Union. Some 500,000 jobs were created in 2014, although
youth unemployment remains stubbornly high.

But social issues remain important to a significant faction of
Popular Party supporters and politicians. After abandoning a
proposal to ban abortion on demand, the government recently
pushed through a measure forbidding minors from having an
abortion without parental consent. Even so, several of the
party's senators voted against the measure as inadequate.

Opinion polls suggest no party will gain an overall majority in
December's elections, as two new groups -- Ciudadanos and
Podemos -- threaten to take votes from the Popular Party and
Socialists, respectively. Podemos is an insurgent left-wing
party similar to Syriza in Greece; Ciudadanos is a centrist pro-
business party.

There is also the wild card of Catalonia, where parties
promising a path to independence and those content with autonomy
do battle in regional elections at the end of September. If the pro-independence parties secure a majority of votes, they plan
an 18-month transition to secession from Spain.

Antonio Roldan Mones of risk consultancy Eurasia Group expects
that in the national elections at least three parties will be
needed to form a viable coalition, with the Popular Party likely
to emerge the largest on the strength of its economic record. It
may also benefit -- after the Catalan elections -- from being
seen as the best guarantor of Spain's unity.

But in any event, he expects forming a new government "will be
very difficult" and a new constitutional amendment may be needed
to decentralize power further -- in education, language rights
and finance -- to meet Catalan demands.

In Vitoria, Maroto may just be looking forward to Saturday and
married life. He told the Spanish radio station COPE he hopes
that one day weddings such as his will not be big news -- and
that everyone will accept them as normal.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/09/17/europe/spain-gay-wedding- rajoy/?iid=ob_article_organicsidebar_expansion&iref=obnetwork

It took faggots 2,000 years to reach the same "acceptance" they
had in the Roman Empire. And we all know what happened to the
Romans - and their faggot "pets".
 
 

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)