Lisbon
More gay marriage: Portugal’s conservative president said this week he would reluctantly ratify a law recognizing gay marriage, making the predominantly Catholic country the sixth in Europe to allow same-sex couples to wed. President Aníbal Cavaco Silva said that despite his “personal conviction” that homosexuality is wrong, he would not veto the bill because the liberal majority in parliament would just override his decision. “I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese,” he said. The announcement came just days after Pope Benedict XVI visited Portugal and called same-sex marriage one of the most “insidious and dangerous” threats facing the world.
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