Spanish Senate votes down gay marriage bill News
Spanish Senate votes down gay marriage bill

[JURIST] The Spanish Senate voted 131-119 Wednesday against a bill that would legalize gay marriage. The bill had already passed the lower house of parliament [JURIST report], but faced fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative groups [AP report]. The bill is still likely to pass [Scotsman report], however, since it now returns to the lower house [El Mundo report, in Spanish] for another vote on June 30. If the law is enacted Spain would join Belguim and the Netherlands as the only European countries to allow gay marriage . BBC News has more.