Abstract
On 30 June 2005, the Spanish Parliament approved Law 13/2005, which amends the Civil Code to permit same-sex marriage. This formal equality measure put Spain in the spotlight of the international media. It is the culmination of a series of developments spanning from the last years of the Franco regime (which ended in 1975), through the enactment of anti-discrimination measures in 1995, to the recent fight for kinship recognition. It also follows a recent shift, from 1998 to 2005, towards the enactment of same-sex partnership laws at regional level, the approval of same-sex marriage and finally, the approval of a ‹gender identity law’ (2007). This legislative note assesses the context in which the new law on same-sex marriage has been enacted. I argue that although same-sex marriage has been represented by many activists and politicians in Spain as a gender neutral contract, it has the potential for differential impacts on lesbians and gay men, and further research and debates are needed in this area.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Auchmuty R. (2004) Same-Sex Marriage Revived: Feminist Critique and Legal Strategy. Feminism & Psychology 14/1:101–126.
Barker N. (2006) Sex and the Civil Partnership Act: The Future of (Non) Conjugality. Feminist Legal Studies 14/2:241–259.
Boyd S., Young C. (2006) Losing the Feminist Voice? Debates on the Legal Recognition of Same Sex Partnerships in Canada. Feminist Legal Studies 14/2:213–240.
Butler J. (2002) Is Kinship Already Heterosexual?. Differences: A Journal of Feminist Cultural Studies 13/1:14–44.
Calvo K. (2005) Matrimonio homosexual y ciudadanía. Claves de la razón práctica 154:32–40.
C.I.S., “Los jóvenes de hoy”, Boletín Datos de Opinión 19 (1999)
Cooper D. (2001) Like Counting Stars? Re-Structuring Equality and Socio-Legal Space of Same-Sex Marriage. In: Wintemute R., Andenaes M. (eds) The Legal Recognition of Same-Sex Partnerships: A Study of National European and International Law. Hart Publishing, Oxford, pp 75–96.
Cruz Cantero P. (1995) Percepción social de la familia en España. C.I.S., Madrid.
de Cozar, A., “El Gobierno revisara la discriminación de las lesbianas con los bebés ‹in vitro’”, El País, 18 October 2006, 41.
E.F.E., “E1 P.S.O.E. constituye un Grupo Federal de Gays y Lesbianas”, El Mundo, 16 March 1999.
EFE., “Más de 3.300 parejas homosexuales se han casado en España en los últimos dos años”, El País, 27 May 2007
Fernández Cordón, J.A. & Tobío Soler, C., Conciliar las responsabilidades familiares y laborales: prácticas políticas y prácticas sociales (Madrid: Fundación Alternativas, 2006).
Forcada Miranda F.J. (2005) Las últimas reformas legales en España sobre el derecho a contraer matrimonio y en materia de separación y divorcio. Puntos de reflexión. Aequalitas 17:27–37.
Petit J. (2003) 25 Años más. Icaria, Madrid.
Platero R. (2007a) Entre la invisibilidad y la igualdad formal: perspectivas feministas ante la representación del lesbianismo en el matrimonio homosexual. In: Rodríguez F., Simonis A. (eds) Cultura, Homosexualidad y Homofobia. Alertes, Madrid.
Platero, R., “Intersecting Gender and Sexual Orientation. An Analysis of Sexuality and Citizenship in Gender Equality Policies in Spain”, Contesting Citizenship: Comparative Analyses, C.R.I.S.P.P. 10/4 (2007b).
Rusiñol, P., “El orgullo ‹gay’ toma el escaño. El portavoz del PSC Miquel Iceta defiende su condición de homosexual ante el Parlamento catalán y pide una reforma que legalice el matrimonio para ese colectivo”, El Paí s, 28 June 2001
Serrano Alonso, E., El nuevo matrimonio civil. Estudio de las leyes 13/2005, de 1 de julio, y 15/2005, de 8 de Julio, de Reforma del Código Civil (Madrid: Edisofer, 2005).
Stychin C.F. (2006) Not (Quite) a Horse and Carriage. The Civil Partnership Act 2004. Feminist Legal Studies 14/2:79–86.
Talavera Fernández P.A. (2001) La unión de hecho y el derecho a no casarse. Comares, Granada.
Vidate, P., “Divorcio y matrimonio gay”, Diagonal, 21 July 2005, 38.
Villagrasa, C., “La Union estable homosexual”, in El Codi de Familia i la Llei d´Unions Estables de Parella. Aproximaciones Doctrinales a las leyes 9/1998 y 10/1998 del Parlament de Catalunya, eds. A. Hernández Moreno & C. Villagrasa Alcaide (Barcelona: Cedecs, 2000), 425–433.
V.V.A.A., “José María Mendiluce, candidato verde y gay. El eurodiputado y candidato a la alcaldía de Madrid reconoce su homosexualidad en la revista ‹Zero’”, El País, 2 January 2003.
Yanel, A., “El congreso rechaza anular la ley de matrimonios homosexuales”, El␣Mundo, 28 February 2007.
Young C., Boyd S. (2003) From Same Sex to No Sex? Towards Legal Recognition of (Same Sex) Relationships in Canada. Seattle Journal of Social Justice 1/3:757–793.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Platero, R. Love and the State: Gay Marriage in Spain. Fem Leg Stud 15, 329–340 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-007-9064-z
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-007-9064-z