Members of the Argentine Senate have
rejected a call by the Roman Catholic Church to put a gay marriage
bill up for a vote, La Nacion reported.
Church officials had asked senators to
move the debate on gay marriage from the Senate to the public square.
The bill was approved in May by Argentina's lower house, the Chamber
of Deputies (la Camara de Diputados) and is being reviewed in the
Senate General Law Committee chaired by Senator Liliana Negre de
Alonso, who has said that she disagrees with giving gay and lesbian
couples the right to marry.
Negre de Alonso's committee began a
four-city hearing tour on June 14 that wrapped up Monday in Mendoza.
The full Senate is scheduled to take up
the bill on July 14, a Wednesday. Members appear divided on the
bill.
“As agreed, the bill will be
discussed on July 14 in the Senate, so I do not see it necessary to
call a referendum,” Senator Ruben Giustiniani told the paper.
“On July 6, the committee shall give
its opinion [on the gay marriage bill] and there is no possibility
that the opinion will include a call for a referendum,” Negre de
Alonso said.
An unofficial head count by the paper
found that a majority of senators were against a public vote on the
issue.
The news comes a day after an estimated
2,000 people rallied in front of the National Congress urging
lawmakers to approve the gay marriage bill. Lily Allen's “Fuck You
(Very Much),” which includes the line “So you say it's not OK to
be gay. Well, I think you're just evil. Your point of view is
medieval,” was a popular song heard throughout the day.