| Same-sex marriage in Spain:
On June 30, 2004, Spanish minister of justice Juan Fernando López Aguilar announced that the Spanish Congress of Deputies had provisionally approved a government plan for legislation to extend the right to marriage to same-sex couples. This bill is to be be presented to Parliament on October 1, 2004 and is expected to become law by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero the day of his inauguration.
The news is the fruit of long activism by Spanish gay and lesbian groups such as the State Federation of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transsexuals (FELGT).
However, the news was met with concern by Catholic authorities, including Pope John Paul II, who feared a weakening of family values.
At the same time, Minister López announced a proposition (introduced by the Convergència i Unió party) to introduce legal status for both opposite- and same-sex common-law unions (parejas de hecho, "de facto unions"), and another to permit transgendered people to legally change their name and sex designation without the requirement of surgery.
A poll by Spain's Centre for Sociological Investigations showed that in July 2004, two-thirds of the Spaniards backed same-sex marriage.
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