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Outrage at Spanish Queenââ¬â¢s anti-gay comments
Queen Sofia of Spain
Queen Sofia of Spain speaks out against gay marriage
"Should they be proud to be gay?"
Queen Sofia of Spain has caused controversy by saying that she doesn’t believe gay people should be allowed to marry and has criticised the need for Pride parades and other gay awareness events.
In extracts taken from her biography “The Queen Up Close” published by El Pais newspaper, the Queen said:
"I can understand, accept and respect that there are people of other sexual tendencies, but should they be proud to be gay?
"Should they ride on a parade float and come out in protests? If all of those of us who aren't gay came out to protest we would halt traffic,"
"If those people want to live together, dress up like bride and groom and marry, they could have a right to do so, or not, depending on the law of their country, but they should not call this matrimony, because it isn't.”
Gay rights groups have condemned the Queen’s comments, with the State Federation of Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals’ president Antonio Poveda saying:
"Many mothers of gays and lesbians are going to ask why the Queen understands that the Prince would marry a divorced woman, but she can't understand why other mothers wouldn't want that same happiness of marriage for their children"
Since yesterday’s publication and subsequent controversy the royal family has distanced itself from the Queen’s remarks, ascertaining in a statement issued by Zarzuela Palace that she made them ‘in a private framework,'
However Pilar Urbano, author of “The Queen Up Close”, rubbished the claims and confirmed that the Queen has personally approved the biography before it went to print.
Gay marriage has been legal in Spain since 2005.
