Portugal Rejects Gay Adoption

Portugal's Parliament yesterday rejected a bill that would have legalized adoption by same-sex couples.

The draft laws, presented by the opposition Socialist, Left Bloc and Green parties were all defeated by some 30 votes by the chamber in which 220 deputies were present. The majority ruling right, led by the Social Democrats, had already refused to back similar propositions in 2012 and 2013. Thursday's vote was nevertheless passed by the smallest margin yet as the 16 Communist Party deputies for the first time backed the move to allow gay couples to adopt. In Portugal any individuals, including homosexuals, may apply to adopt but when the parliament authorised gay marriages in 2010 it expressly excluded the right for such couples to adopt.

The pro-gay Socialist Party is favored to take the majority this fall. (Tipped by JMG reader Lulu)

PORTUGAL: Gay Catholics Association To Petition Pope Francis For Change

Via Portugal News:

According to the head of the Portuguese homosexual Catholics’ association Rumos Novos, gay members of the Catholic church are to ask the Vatican for an “urgent change” in attitude that will promote their acceptance and integration in local communities and parishes. Speaking to Lusa News Agency ahead of the first World Congress of Homosexual Catholics’ Associations, which takes place next week in Portimão,  José Leote said there is an “urgent need for a change in attitude on behalf of the Catholic hierarchy for there to be real acceptance […] which will involve the integration [of homosexuals] in the parish communities.” This will be one of the main points in a document to be put together during the meeting, which runs in Portimão from 6 – 8 October. Representatives of other international homosexual Catholic associations will meet in Portugal over that weekend, which coincides with the Vatican’s Synod on the Family extraordinary meeting, which takes place every year between 5 and 19 October and during which the Church reflects on “the new realities of families.” In total twenty-eight associations from sixteen different countries are due to meet in the Algarve city. The get-together has been organised to “debate the role of homosexuals in today’s Church” and, according to reports, afterwards a letter will be sent to Pope Francis asking for “more inclusion and closeness.”

The group's website is here.

TRAILER: Barba Rija

JMG reader Gerard tips us to the Portuguese bear series Barba Rija (Rough Beard). Three episodes have gone up in the last couple of weeks: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3.  The clips are subtitled in English - click play then the CC button.

The Gay Braveheart Battle Speech

Buzzfeed's Copyranter writes:

Every September, Lisbon hosts Queer Lisboa, “the sole Portuguese Film Festival dedicated exclusively to screening gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and transsexual themed films.” And every year, for several years now, Queer Lisboa comes out with an epic promo video ad. Last year, it was “The Death of the Gay Cliche.” In 2011, it was “Mister Pink,” a brilliant redo of the famous scene from Reservoir Dogs. Now this year, William Wallace gradually gets queenier (as do his charges) as he gets more impassioned.

You'll love this. Hit the link for clips from previous years.

Updated Global Marriage Map

After last week's first gay wedding in France, the Agency France-Presse posted the above map.

Portugal Approves Gay Adoption UPDATE: Not So Fast

UPDATE: The below-linked source has edited their opening sentence to read: "Portuguese parliament has approved Friday a bill that will allow same-sex married couples to adopt their partner’s biological or adopted children."

So it's not full adoption rights. Below is my original post.

Today the Portuguese Parliament narrowly approved adoption rights for same-sex couples. The vote was 99-94 with nine abstentions.

The bills were supported by the ruling center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) and the progressive Socialist Party (PS). The Portuguese parliament had approved the right to same-sex marriages in 2010, but without adoption rights. The law allowed gay couples the same rights as married heterosexual couples, including taxes, inheritance and housing, but didn’t offer the right to adopt children.  Portugal is among the first 10 counties in the world to allow same-sex marriage. As recently as 1982, homosexuality was a crime in Portugal. Today, Portugal has wide-ranging anti-discrimination laws and is one of the few countries in the world to contain a ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation in its Constitution.

(Tipped by JMG reader Pedro)

Updated Gay Marriage Map

Source.

Marriage Equality Nations

(Via JMG reader Thomas)

NEW YORK CITY: Model Found Guilty Of Murdering His Wealthy Boyfriend

In January 2011 New York City's tabloids published daily grisly updates in the case of Portuguese model Renato Seabra, who stabbed to death and then castrated his wealthy and renowned fashion photographer boyfriend with a wine corkscrew in a midtown hotel. Seabra told the NYPD at the time that he had murdered Carlos Castro in order to free him of his "homosexual demons" and that he himself was "not gay anymore." On Friday the jury rejected Seabra's defense of Jeebus-crazed insanity and found him guilty of second-degree murder.

Duncan Osborne reports at Gay City News:

“This was a brutal and sadistic crime, where Renato Seabra bludgeoned, choked, and mutilated his victim before murdering him,” District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., said in a November 30 statement. “But the jury’s verdict now, finally, holds Seabra accountable. It is particularly tragic that Carlos Castro was not only betrayed by his spurned lover, but met a very painful and violent end far from his home.” Jurors were charged by Daniel P. FitzGerald, the judge in the case, on November 29, and they deliberated for roughly 90 minutes that day. They returned a verdict by roughly 3:45 pm the next day. The speed with which they reached a decision suggests they never seriously considered the defense claim that Seabra, 23, was insane at the time of the murder and therefore not legally responsible.

The defense had argued that Seabra believed he was acting as a "conduit for God." Seabra first came to national fame in Portugal after appearing on a male modeling reality show. The sentencing portion of his trial has not yet taken place.

Oppression Spawns Gay Marriage?

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni points to an interesting theory on why same-sex marriage has become legal in some rather unexpected places.

It was only a little more than a decade ago that a country first legalized same-sex marriage, and that happened in precisely the kind of forward-thinking, bohemian place you’d expect: the Netherlands. About two years later, Belgium followed suit. Then things got really interesting. The eight countries that later joined the club were a mix of largely foreseeable and less predictable additions. In the first category I’d put Canada, Norway, Sweden and Iceland. In the second: South Africa, Spain, Portugal and Argentina.

Why those four countries? People who have studied the issue note that that they have something interesting and relevant in common: each spent a significant period of the late 20th century governed by a dictatorship or brutally discriminatory government, and each emerged from that determined to exhibit a modernity and concern for human rights that put the past to rest. “They’re countries where the commitment to democracy and equal protection under the law was denied, flouted and oppressed, and the societies have struggled to restore that,” said Evan Wolfson, the president of Freedom to Marry, a New York-based advocacy group, in a recent interview.

Eurovision: Portugal's Homens La Luta

I suppose it's slightly interesting that they aren't really professional singers, but an improv comedy troupe that specializes in parodies of the songs of Portugal's 1974 Carnation Revolution. Normally I'd award extra points for non-English songs, but this is wretched. Of the dozen or so entries I've posted so far, I'm still liking Belarus purely for its cheesetasticness.

Killer Model Confesses: I Murdered Him To Get Rid Of His Homosexual Demons

Portuguese model Renato Seabra has confessed to the grisly murder of gay activist and fashion journalist Carlos Castro, whose mutilated body was found in a posh midtown NYC hotel over the weekend. Seabra told police that he used a corkscrew to sever Castro's testicles in order to free the older man of his "homosexual demons." Seabra added that he himself was "not gay anymore."

Seabra was charged with second-degree murder, police said Monday. Seabra and Castro came to New York from their native Portugal and by all accounts were a couple - but Seabra appears unable to admit that, police sources said. "He said he did it to get rid of [Castro's] homosexual demons," one of the police sources said. Police believe the two men had dated for several months, even though Seabra's family insisted the tanned hunk is straight. "My son was not Carlos Castro's lover," Seabra's mother, Odília Pereirinha, told a Portuguese TV station. "From the beginning, he never hid his sexuality, which is heterosexual." Castro was a high-profile gay activist and society columnist in his home country. Seabra's claim to fame was as a pretty boy contestant on a top model reality show.

Seabra remains in a psychiatric ward in Bellevue Hospital where he was treated for self-inflicted cuts to his wrists.

NEW YORK CITY: Portuguese Gay Activist Found Slain, Male Model In Custody

Noted Portuguese gay activist and fashion journalist Carlos Castro, 65, has been found dead and gruesomely mutilated in a midtown New York City hotel. Castro's traveling companion, a young model, is in police custody.

The naked body of Carlos Castro, 65, was found lying face-up in a pool of blood inside his 34th-floor room at the InterContinental New York Times Square on W. 44th St. about 7p.m., the sources said. The prominent gay activist had been bludgeoned in the head and his scrotum cut off, sources said. Several hours prior to the grisly find, Castro had a heated argument with his companion - Renato Seabra, a twentysomething Portuguese male model - sources and witnesses said. The two checked in together on Dec. 29. A female friend of the writer and producer grew concerned after she heard of the dispute and went to the swanky hotel to check on Castro, sources said. Not knowing what room her pal was in, the New Jersey woman went to the front desk. Suddenly, the tall, chiseled Seabra came through the lobby, recognized the worried woman and told her Castro "was not coming out of his room," a source said.

Guests at the hotel report having heard the pair arguing loudly earlier in the day. Police found Seabra at Bellevue Hospital, where he'd checked himself in for undisclosed reasons. Below is a Portuguese news report on the murder, followed by a clip of the suspect appearing on a Portuguese modeling competition show.

Mister Pink

A Quentin Tarantino parody to promote Lisbon's gay film festival. Language very NSFW.

(Via - Copyranter)

Gay Weddings Begin In Portugal

Same-sex marriage became legal is Portugal today and the weddings have already started.

A lesbian couple wed Monday in Portugal's first same-sex ceremony since the predominantly Catholic country introduced a law allowing gay marriage last month. Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced Portuguese mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married in a 15-minute ceremony at a Lisbon registry office. "This is a great victory, a dream come true," Pires said as the couple kissed and hugged. "Now we're a family, that's the important thing," Pires said, adding they would continue to fight for equal rights for homosexuals, including adoption. The ceremony came less than a month after Portugal's conservative president ratified a gay marriage law passed by Parliament in January.

PORTUGAL: Soccer Star Cristiano Ronaldo Endorses Same-Sex Marriage

Portuguese soccer hero Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the most beloved athletes in the world, has endorsed same-sex marriage. Via Blabbeando's Andres Duque, who translates Ronaldo as saying: "The Portuguese man that I am, I try to keep informed about what is happening in my country. I know the law was passed and the comment it deserves is that we must respect the choices made by anyone, because, after all, all citizens should have the exact same rights and responsibilities." Last month Portugal legalized gay marriage.

Portugal's President To Sign Marriage Equality Law

All that pressure from the Vatican was useless. Today Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced that he WILL ratify his nation's marriage equality law, which was bound for approval whether he vetoed it or not. Interestingly, Silva's decision comes on the International Day Against Homophobia.

The head of state's decision to permit the enactment of a bill passed by Parliament in January makes Portugal the sixth European country allowing same-sex couples to wed. President Anibal Cavaco Silva said in a nationally televised address he regretted that the country's political parties had failed to reach a compromise during days of heated debate in Parliament four months ago. Vetoing the bill would only send it back to Parliament where lawmakers would overturn his decision, he said, adding that the country needed to focus on overcoming an economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty. The Socialist government's bill was backed by all of Portugal's left-of-center parties, who together have a majority in Parliament. Right-of-center parties opposed the measure and demanded a national referendum. "Given that fact, I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese and divert the attention of politicians away from the grave problems affecting us," Cavaco Silva said. He said that, in ratifying the law, he was setting aside "personal convictions."

Parabéns, Portugal! Eight nations now allow same-sex marriage: Canada, Netherlands, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, and Portugal. Who will be next?

PORTUGAL: Pope Warns Against "Insidious Threat" Of Gay Marriage

Today Emperor Palpatine urged the Portuguese people to oppose the marriage equality bill recently approved by the nation's legislature, calling it an "insidious" threat to society.

The pope, wrapping up his trip to this country where more than 90 percent of the population is officially Catholic, made his appeal in the shrine city of Fatima on a day that started with a Mass attended by up to half a million people. In his afternoon address to Catholic charity and social workers, the 83-year-old German pope said he "deeply appreciated" initiatives aimed at defending what he said were "essential and primary values of life." Among these values, he said, was "the family, founded on indissoluble marriage between a man and a woman," which is Vatican-speak for its opposition to gay marriage. The audience applauded when the pope said abortion -- which has been legal in Portugal since 2007 -- and threats to heterosexual marriage were "among some of the most insidious and dangerous challenges facing the common good today."

Portugal's president is being pressured by the Vatican to veto the marriage equality bill, although it's widely expected that his veto will be overridden by the parliament.

Green Light For Gay Marriage In Portugal

Portugal's Constitutional Court has approved a marriage equality bill recently passed by the nation's legislature. The bill only needs the signature of the president to become law.

Portugal's Socialist-controlled Parliament, led by Prime Minister Jose Socrates, approved the gay marriage bill on February 11. The president still has the option of vetoing the legislation, but Socrates has said he is prepared to overturn the veto. The Vatican has vociferously opposed laws that grant gay couples the right to marry. Pope Benedict has called for the ouster of Socialists in Spain who approved a gay marriage law in 2005, but the church's opposition in the Catholic stronghold of Portugal has been muted. However, Benedict is widely expected to criticize the bill when he visits Portugal next month.

President Silva opposes marriage equality, but his expected veto will likely be overridden.

Thousands Protest Portugal Marriage Law

Yesterday thousands of anti-gay protesters marched in Lisbon to protest Portugal's pending marriage equality law.

Organizers estimated the event, called “in defense of the family,” attracted a crowd of 5,000, but no official figures were reported. Demonstrators marched down Lisbon's main downtown artery Av. da Liberdade (Liberty Avenue) calling on President Anibal Cavaco Silva to reject a gay marriage law approved twice by lawmakers. Silva is a Roman Catholic and a member of the PSD party, groups which oppose the legalization of gay marriage, and he has publicly stated his opposition to gay marriage. However, Silva has several options before him, including vetoing the bill. Commentators in the Portuguese press have speculated he could forward the issue to the Constitutional Court. Last year, despite the fact that Portugal's Constitution outlaws discrimination based on sexual orientation, the court denied a lesbian couple the right to marry in a narrow 3-to-2 decision. The ruling prompted Socialists to draft the gay marriage bill. Protesters are also demanding a referendum on gay marriage, although Parliamentarians have already rejected such a measure.

Many more photos of the protest.