by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
A bill to legalize same-sex marriage was introduced in Chile's Congress Aug. 3.
Sen. Fulvio Rossi, president of the Socialist Party, said the bill would rewrite the Civil Code to remove the heterosexual definition of marriage along with language that says the objective of matrimony is procreation. The bill would not explicitly legalize gay adoption.
Santiago Roman Catholic Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz was annoyed by the news. "Maybe … two men or two women want to live together and share life but to call this marriage is an aberration into which some countries have fallen," Errazuriz said. "I lament that Argentina has fallen into this."
The move is considered by some to be a long shot in Chile, which is not as liberal as neighboring Argentina, where same-sex marriage became legal in July.
Same-sex marriage also is legal in Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Mexico City, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
