Global General

Chile senator says to sponsor gay marriage bill

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-08-02 10:27

SANTIAGO -- The head of Chile's Socialist party, Fulvio Rossi, told reporters on Sunday that he planned to sponsor a bill to legalize gay marriage in the country, as occurred last month in neighboring Argentina.

Related readings:  AIDS expert tells gay men to face up to responsibilities  Gay pride march in Jerusalem angers Orthodox Jews  Two Chinese jailed for organizing gay prostitution

"This is a project that I will present ... and I am also calling on the Church to be more welcoming, and I say that as part of the Church," the senator said, responding to remarks from Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz who described the same-sex weddings in Argentina as "an aberration."

A gay couple from Chile was among the first to marry in Argentina, in the wine-making Mendoza region, when the country become the first in Latin America to allow same-sex nuptials.

Sebastian Pinera, Chile's first conservative president in two decades, has vowed to give more rights to same-sex couples, but opposes gay marriage.

Rossi's proposal is also expected to meet some resistance in Congress.