In a motion pushed through by the dominant Socialist/Left wing majority, the law that will allow gay couple to adopt now nears formal legislation.
The matter has been voted on before, but the past four votes were defeated - today’s therefore marks a significant victory for gay rights pressure groups.
The caretaker coalition allowed its MPs a free vote but in fact all had agreed to vote against the proposal. When the vote was taken, 19 PSD members voted for the proposal to become legislation, including the former Justice Minister Paula Teixeira da Cruz who hitherto had been against the move.
The Left Bloc and Socialist alliance voted through four initiatives all with the same goal, with MP Heloisa Apolonia commenting that, "good and bad families do not depend on the sexual orientation of their members."
The Left Bloc said it is the right of all men and women to put themselves forward to adopt children, with MP Sandra Cunha adding, "It's a chance to make history, to overcome prejudices, for the law to treat same-sex couples the same as opposite-sex couples."
"All citizens are free and equal before the law. Sexual orientation cannot be subject to discrimination unless there is a convincing explanation, worthy of consideration and proportional to the inherent limitation of rights. It is now clear that the obligation of the democratic State is to ensure equal access for adoption to couples regardless of gender or sexual orientation," read the socialist proposal passed today ami cheering and clapping in the national assembly.
The draft laws, although approved, now will be analysed by experts before undergoing a final vote in parliament.
