Will same-sex marriage be legalized in PHL?
Various types of same-sex marriages have existed thousands of years ago. From Wikipedia: same-sex unions were known in ancient Greece and rome, ancient Mesopotamia, in some regions of China, such as Fujian province, and at certain times in ancient European history.
At least two of the Roman emperors were in same-sex unions. Emperor Nero was reportedly the first Roman emperor to have married a man. Historical accounts said he married two other men on different occasions. Adolescent emperor Elagabalus referred to his chariot driver, a blond slave from Caria named Hierocles, as his husband. He also married an athlete named Zoticus in a lavish public ceremony in Rome amid the rejoicings of the citizens.
On December 19, 2000, the Netherlands became the first country to legalize same-sex marriage when the Dutch parliament passed, by a three-to-one margin, a landmark bill allowing the practice. The legislation gave same-sex couples the right to marry, divorce and adopt children.
Today, same-sex marriage is legally performed and recognized in the following countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, United Kingdom, Uruguay and the United States.
From the Associated Press: A celebratory crowd of thousands bundled up on a chilly Tuesday afternoon to watch President Joe Biden sign gay marriage legislation into law, a joyful ceremony that was tempered by the backdrop of an ongoing conservative backlash over gender issues. “This law and the love it defends strike a blow against hate in all its forms,” Biden said on the South Lawn of the White House. “And that’s why this law matters to every single American.”
AP reported that lawmakers from both parties attended Tuesday’s ceremony, reflecting the growing acceptance of same-sex unions, once among the country’s most contentious issues.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer wore the same purple tie to the ceremony that he wore to his daughter Alison’s wedding. She and her wife are expecting their first child in the spring.
Biden has pushed to expand LGBT rights since taking office. He reversed President Donald Trump’s efforts to strip transgender people of anti-discrimination protections. His administration includes the first openly gay Cabinet member, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and the first transgender person to receive Senate confirmation, Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine.
A majority of Republicans in Congress voted against the legislation. But enough supported it to sidestep a filibuster in the Senate and ensure its passage. In the end, US lawmakers crafted a compromise that was intended to assuage conservative concerns about religious liberty, such as ensuring churches could still refuse to perform gay marriages.
Will same-sex marriage be legalized in a Catholic country like the Philippines? Although the Constitution does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriage, the Family Code of the Philippines defines marriage as “a special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman.”
Same-sex marriage remains a highly contentious issue in the Philippines because religion retains its central role in society. For example, Pope Francis is extremely popular in the Philippines. And Filipinos look up to the Pope for spiritual and moral guidance on faith-related things, like the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
In 2013, Pope Francis was quoted as saying, “If someone is gay and is searching for the Lord and has a good will, then who am I to judge him?”
In a recently released documentary, “Francesco,” made with the approval of the Vatican, Pope Francis was heard saying, “Homosexual people have a right to be in the family. They are children of God. They have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out of the family or made miserable over this. What we have to make is a law of civil coexistence, for they have the right to be legally covered. I stood up for that.”
However, Pope Francis definitively signaled the limits to his reformist intentions on March 15, 2021 through a Vatican decree reaffirming the church’s teaching that bars priests from blessing same-sex unions.