Supporters of gay marriage in Paraguay
say they have a good chance of having the legislation approved.
The debate on whether to allow gay and
lesbian couples to marry in the Roman Catholic stronghold kicked off
Saturday with two large demonstrations.
Opponents of marriage equality
protested at town squares throughout the nation, while advocates
gathered in front of the Pantheon of Heroes, Asuncion's memorial to
the country's fallen soldiers, to urge Paraguayans to support gay
marriage.
The gay rights group SOMOSGAY (we are
gay) will present the gay marriage bill to legislators this month.
Opposition, however, began mobilizing just days after neighboring
Argentina approved a similar law in July.
“We are going to put out an intense
educational campaign on Christian values, to avoid the law of
marriage between people of the same sex that was approved in
Argentina from coming to Paraguay,” Bishop Adalberto Martinez of
San Pedo told La Nation.
The church is backing the campaign Queremos Papa y Mama (We want a
mother and a father), which sponsored Saturday's anti-gay marriage
Festival Por La Vida Y La Familia (Festival For Life & Family).
SOMOSGAY
President Simon Cazal said that while his group will present the gay
marriage bill this month, lawmakers aren't expected to take up the
bill until early next year. “There is a possibility that it'll be
approved,” Cazal told On
Top Magazine in an
email.