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Gay-marriage law sparks rally in Spain
Tens of thousands of people, many dancing or banging drums, packed the streets of Madrid on Saturday to celebrate Spain's new law legalizing gay marriage. "This is infinitely gay. There are no words to express it," Ivan Sanchez, a 26-year-old pharmacist, said as the throng snaked its way through the capital.
"Now that some of us are more free, all Spaniards are more free," said Cholo Soto, 30, a government clerk who joined the march. The Interior Ministry put attendance at 100,000, but the turnout looked much bigger. The rally culminated by spilling into Plaza de Colon. In the same square in 2003, the late Pope John Paul II said Mass for an estimated 1 million people and said traditionally Roman Catholic Spain had to re-embrace its religious roots. The church is vehemently opposed to the new same-sex marriage law. Gay couples are not expected to start getting married until late this month because of pre-ceremony paperwork, according to Spain's main federation of gays and lesbians, known as the FELGT. The law gives same-sex couples the right to wed, adopt children and inherit each other's property, making their legal status the same as that of heterosexual couples. Spain is the third country in the world to grant full recognition to gay marriage. The others are the Netherlands and Belgium. Canada is expected to follow suit later this month. Several European countries and a few U.S. states recognize civil unions among same-sex couples but this falls short of treating them like married couples.
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