Posted on 12/01/2013 10:41:29 AM PST by Ravnagora
Zagreb (AFP) - Voters in staunchly Catholic Croatia cast ballots on Sunday in a controversial referendum whose results are expected to outlaw same-sex marriage in the European Union's newest member state.
Some 3.8 million eligible voters were to decide on whether to amend the country's constitution to include a definition of marriage as a "union between a woman and a man".
The current constitution does not define marriage.
Passions have run high in Croatia ahead of the vote, with the Church-backed 'yes' camp citing the defence of traditional family values, and their opponents accusing them of discrimination against gays.
Despite previous heated debates, at 1000 GMT, four hours after voting started, the turnout was a rather low 9.29 percent, the election commission said.
Under Croatian law, a referendum does not require a majority voter turnout to be valid.
The centre-left government, rights activists and prominent public figures have all spoken out against the measure.
But popular support is strong, with the latest survey showing 68 percent planning to vote 'yes' compared to 27 percent against.
"I'm a father of three children and that explains everything," Krunoslav Knezevic told AFP in reference to his 'yes' vote.
"Marriage is a union of a woman and a man designed so that children are born in it. I'm not certain that a same-sex couple can have children in a natural way," he added ironically.
The recent unveiling of a government bill enabling gay couples to register as "life partners" sparked fears among conservatives in Croatia -- which joined the EU in July -- that same-sex marriage would be next.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Look for the MSNBC crowd to boycott Croatia, as they are calling for boycotts or demonstrations at the Winter Olympics in Russia. Russia had passed anti-homosexual laws, which has the gay activists in a hissy fit. They compare the laws in Russia to Nazi laws against Jews, saying that these Russian Olympics will be akin to the Berlin Olympics of 1936, etc.
I think this is a mistake; having a law defining marriage gives the fringe a specific target for their shenanigans. Marriage is marriage, and you don’t need a law to know that it requires a man and a woman.
The U.S. needs to pass a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being between a man and a woman, and associate actions which violate that amendment as giving aid and comfort to the enemy.
I disagree. DOMA, “don’t ask, don’t tell”, and equivalent laws/policies provide a target for the perverts and their allies. In the absence of any such rule, they had nothing they could object to in court. I think those rules set traditional values back, both by providing a target and by setting a precedent that such rules were even open to negotiation or question.
The West will go through some ugly times while we pretend that a gay relationship has anything to do with marriage, and we’re better off not doing anything to make those issues worse.
Saying two men can not pretend to be husband and wife is “controversial”? Welcome to bizarro world.
Good for them!
The photo that comes up if you click on the link shows signs in Cyrillic. They must be from earlier demonstrations in Serbia or Montenegro, not current demonstrations in Croatia, where almost everyone uses the Latin alphabet.
no law has ever “defined” it as the default is well known. Dittoes for gayitis and all the other perversions.
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