Friday

29th Mar 2024

Spain and Portugal: from tyrants to toleration

  • The Vasco de Gama bridge in Portugal (Photo: F H Mira)

On a map of Europe where green is gay-friendly and red is not, an olive-coloured peninsula in the west brings a little variety to an otherwise yellowish south.

Both Spain and Portugal, in a little over one generation, have gone from being among the most repressive to the most egalitarian societies for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi- and transexual people] people.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Get the EU news that really matters

Instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Under the fascist dictatorships of Franco in Spain and Salazar in Portugal, homosexuality was forbidden. Gay people were reportedly imprisoned in large numbers. But soon after both regimes collapsed in the mid-1970s, the new democracies embarked on a legal overhaul.

Today, Spain and Portugal are among a handful of countries in the world that allow same-sex couples to marry, according to a recent study by Ilga-Europe, an organisation for LGBT rights and the creator of the so-called rainbow map.

Both have enshrined in their constitutions the prohibition of discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation - Spain also on the grounds of gender identity - and have adopted laws for the legal recognition of gender change.

"We are at the beginning of a new stage now," says Paulo Corte Real from Familias Arco Iris, an LGBT rights group in Portugal.

"A lot of progress has been made. We are now investing more in raising awareness."

In 2009, attitudes in Portugal toward LGBT people were still less positive than the EU average, according to the latest Eurobarometer survey, but improving fast. In Spain, they were above average.

Gabriel Aranda from FELGTB, a federation of rights groups in Spain, says that the adoption of the marriage law in his country in 2005 - the second in the world after the Netherlands in 2001 - created "a domino effect" in the hispanuc world. Mexico and Argentina have adopted similar laws "and now they are talking about it in Chile."

It is not a coincidence, experts say, that among the most gay-friendly countries today are former authoritarian regimes which had close ties to the Catholic church, a source of antipathy toward gay rights.

"Wherever you have the biggest oppression you have the biggest resistance," says Renato Sabbadini, secretary-general of Ilga, a global LGBT rights organisation.

"Regardless of all the appeals any bishop or cardinal would make, people remember the role of the church during the dictatorship," he adds. "People have not forgotten about that."

"There is definitely a feeling of reparation," says Corte Real from Portugal. "A feeling of making up for whatever happened in the past."

Boris Dittrich, LGBT chief at Human Rights Watch, agrees.

"People distance themselves more easily from the church, because of what happened,” he says. "Nevertheless, I must say that I admire the politicians who stood their ground. The church waged a strong lobby, threatening with excommunication and everything."

In Spain, however, the battle is not over yet. Aranda says he fears the new conservative government might try to overturn the same-sex marriage law by changing the composition of the country’s constitutional court. After seven years, the court still has to decide on the constitutionality of the law.

It is unclear when it will. "But we hope it will before it changes," says Aranda. "We are waiting."

MEPs condemn homophobia in eastern Europe

MEPs from across the political spectrum have criticised EU member states Lithuania, Latvia and Hungary, as well as neighbouring Russia, Ukraine and Moldova over an upsurge in homophobia.

EU commisisoner Šuica sounds alarm on demographic shift

The EU will have to step up its efforts to tackle looming demographic challenges over the next five years. If not, the bloc faces "sleepwalking into dark scenarios", warns EU commission vice-president Dubravka Šuica.

EU commisisoner Šuica sounds alarm on demographic shift

The EU will have to step up its efforts to tackle looming demographic challenges over the next five years. If not, the bloc faces "sleepwalking into dark scenarios", warns EU commission vice-president Dubravka Šuica.

Latest News

  1. Kenyan traders react angrily to proposed EU clothes ban
  2. Lawyer suing Frontex takes aim at 'antagonistic' judges
  3. Orban's Fidesz faces low-polling jitters ahead of EU election
  4. German bank freezes account of Jewish peace group
  5. EU Modernisation Fund: an open door for fossil gas in Romania
  6. 'Swiftly dial back' interest rates, ECB told
  7. Moscow's terror attack, security and Gaza
  8. Why UK-EU defence and security deal may be difficult

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersJoin the Nordic Food Systems Takeover at COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersHow women and men are affected differently by climate policy
  3. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  5. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  6. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  2. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries
  3. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  5. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  6. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA

Join EUobserver

EU news that matters

Join us