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MEXICO CITY – President Barack Obama's announcement Wednesday that he supportsgay marriage boosted the hopes of gay rights groups around theworld that other leaders will follow his example. Vatican and otherreligious officials who oppose gay marriage stayed largely silent,while others denounced the president's position. Gay groups lauded what they said was the tremendous precedent setby Obama and hoped for changes in their own countries. In LatinAmerica, for example, governments in Argentina and Mexico City havepassed laws permitting gay marriage, but most do not. "This is incredibly important, it's excellent news. The UnitedStates is a global leader on everything, and that includes gayrights," said Julio Moreira, president of the Rio de Janeiro-basedArco-Iris gay rights group. "This will force other nations likeBrazil to move forward with more progressive policies." That message was echoed by some people in Europe, Latin America andthe Middle East, who said it was about time Obama took a positivestand on the issue. "It's a civil liberty," said 25-year-old Duncan Bruce while smokinga cigarette outside of a London pub. "This is not to do withreligion — it's about two men loving each other. If you can'tget a tax break for that, it's a disgrace." Even as religious officials didn't comment, political leaders andothers opposed to gay marriage were not shy about denouncing whatthey said was a shameless appeal by Obama for votes. In particular,politicians tied to Pentecostal and Catholic churches have spokenout strongly against same-sex marriage in Latin America. "Barack Obama is an ethical man and a philosophically confusedman," said Peruvian congresswoman Martha Chavez of the conservativeCatholic Opus Dei movement. "He knows that marriage isn't an issueonly of traditions or of religious beliefs. Marriage is a naturalinstitution that supports the union of two people of differentsexes because it has a procreative function." Religion-based opposition was also strong in Egypt's conservativeMuslim-dominated society, which rejects same-sex relations. Lawsprohibiting "debauchery" or "shameless public acts" have been usedto imprison gay men in recent years. "This is unacceptable, because it is against religion, traditionsand against God," said engineer Shady Azer in Cairo. "God createdAdam and Eve. He didn't create two Adams or two Eves." In 2008, four HIV-positive Egyptians were sentenced to three yearsin prison after being convicted of the "habitual practice ofdebauchery." Human rights groups warned that the case couldundermine HIV prevention efforts in Egypt. Actions by governments worldwide have reflected that diversity ofopinion. In 2010, Argentina became Latin America's first country to approvegay marriage. The next year, Brazil's Supreme Court approved civilunions, followed by several state courts upholding the conversionof civil unions into full marriages. The nation's top appeals courtthen upheld those marriages in October, setting national precedent. Gay marriage became legal in Canada in 2005 under the country'sprevious Liberal government in response to court rulings that gavegay people the right to marry. Thousands of gay Canadians, as wellas foreign visitors, have gotten married since then. Spain hasallowed gay marriage since 2005. "This stance will shape the way the rest of the world views theU.S., and will eventually force the way Americans see things tochange," said Sasha Mohammed, 30, in Toronto. "It is, after all,impossible to overtly hold onto your prejudices when everyonearound you condemns you for it." Cesar Cigliutti, president of the Gay Community of Argentina group,said Obama was only catching up to the rest of the world. "It seems to me that by taking this position Obama is aligninghimself with the entire world, with these times we're living in,with the achievements of rights in other countries," Cigliuttisaid. Meanwhile, voters in North Carolina approved a constitutionalamendment Tuesday defining marriage as only between a man and awoman, mirroring efforts in several U.S. states. In Brazil, the Catholic and evangelical churches and religiouspoliticians continue to block the approval of any legislation inCongress enshrining gay marriage. Moreira noted that efforts byPresident Dilma Rousseff to promote anti-homophobia education inBrazilian schools were scuttled last year after it became clearreligious legislators would block unrelated legislation in protest. In France, outgoing President Nicolas Sarkozy opposes gay marriage— though recent polls suggest that a majority of Frenchvoters support it. This Sunday's electoral victor, FrenchPresident-elect Francois Hollande, made "the right to marry andadopt for all couples" part of his campaign platform, and has setlegislative passage of a bill ensuring that right for no later thanJune of next year. Spain adopted its gay marriage law when the country was ruled bythe center-left Socialist Party, but the center-right Popular Partytook control of the government late last year. Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he would prefer civil unionsinstead of marriages, but his administration has made no move tochange the current situation. His party does have an appeal of thegay marriage law pending before the country's Constitutional Court. Jamaica's most prominent evangelical pastor and the island'spolitical ombudsman, Bishop Herro Blair, said late Wednesdayafternoon that he was just hearing about Obama's announcement andwas still taking it in. "For now, I can say that I cannot be mad at President Obama. We arein a society where people have choices. However, my belief runscontrary to his," Blair said in Kingston, the island's capital. In other words, the gay marriage debate promises to rage on aroundthe world despite Obama's groundbreaking announcement. But for oneday, at least, those on one side of the battle won a powerful ally. "We're living in other times where acceptance is growing more andmore," said restaurant owner Carlos Santiago in Mexico City's PinkZone gay district. "It's impossible to hold back a wave, againstsomething that is natural." Anat Chen, a 20-year-old bartender in Jerusalem, said she expectedmore to come. "Everyone should be allowed to marry whoever they want," she said."It matters that Obama said it. Whatever happens in America, therest of the world follows." ___ Associated Press writers Alan Clendenning in Madrid, Spain; DavidMcFadden in Kingston, Jamaica; Maggie Michael in Cairo; CassandraVinograd in London; Isaac Garrido in Mexico City; Franklin Bricenoin Lima, Peru; Bradley Brooks in Sao Paulo; Charmaine Noronha inToronto; Ian Deitch in Jerusalem; and Debora Rey in Buenos Aires,Argentina contributed to this report. I am an expert from screen-protectivefilm.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Nylon Canvas Bag , PP Packaging Box Manufacturer, Cell Phone Protective Film,and more.
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