by Rex Wockner
International News Briefs
The Movement for Equality in Access to Civil Marriage launched on May 31 in Lisbon, Portugal.
More than 1,000 people signed onto the campaign, including politicians, well-known actors, pop singers and businesspeople, and Nobel Prize winner Jose Saramago, who was honored for literature in 1998.
The campaign's manifesto, which now can be signed by anyone in Portugal, states, in part: "Equal access to civil marriage is a matter of justice that deserves the support of all people who oppose homophobia and discrimination. … We citizens who believe in equal rights, dignity and recognition for all of us – for our families, friends and colleagues – join our voices to express our support for equality.
"We call this change necessary, fair and urgent because we know that the current situation of inequality divides society between those who are included and those who are excluded, between persons who are inside and marginalized persons. … We now have an opportunity to end one of the last unjustified (instances of) discrimination written in our law."
