PORTUGAL HAS OVERTURNED ITS PRESIDENT’S VETO ON SAME-SEX ADOPTION

By James Branson

Portugal’s parliament has just voted to overturn its President’s veto of same-sex adoption legislation, in another victory for queer rights in a country that is not Australia 🙁

Last November, the centre-left dominated parliament passed a law allowing same sex couples to adopt, as well as providing medically assisted fertilisation for lesbian couples who wanted kids.

Unfortunately, the country’s Prez, Anibal Cavaco Silva, of the centre-right Social Democratic Party, blocked the legislation with a big fat presidential veto.

Just to add an extra dash of asshole to the equation, he also vetoed changes to the country’s abortion laws to make a woman’s right to choose all that more difficult.

Silva had described the laws as “not in a child’s best interest,” going on to say “It is important that such a big change… is not entered into force without broad debate.”

What a guy.

Fortunately, today the Portuguese parliament overturned Silva’s veto by 137 votes to 97, forcing the President to sign the law within eight days.

Portugal still has a large Catholic population, with over 80 percent of residents describing themselves as religious. Of course, the Catholic Church remains one of the biggest roadblocks to gay-rights worldwide.