Canada is the fourth country

"Canada says `I do' to gay marriage
By Associated Press Thursday, July 21, 2005 - Updated: 02:10 AM EST

TORONTO- Canada legalized gay marriage yesterday, becoming the world's fourth nation to grant full legal rights to same-sex couples.
...The bill gives homosexual couples the same rights as those in traditional unions between a man and a woman, already legal in eight of Canada's 10 provinces and in two of its three territories.
The Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the only other nations that allow gay marriage nationwide..."

I'm waiting for the day we see the opposite new: "There are only X countries that don't allow gay marriage".

I was discussing the process in Spain with some friends the other day. Spain has a strong tradition as a catholic country, and despite this you could see a change in the society in the past years. A more open minded society, homosexuality being treated as a normal thing, started to move from being something you force yourself to accept to something normal in the daily live... it was a slow process, but following a natural path... small victories wan in a conservative society.

Then the government changes, and they take the gay cause as one of their main campaign points. They decide to pass a bill to approve the homosexual marriage without consultation with other parties. And they do it. Big party on the streets and greetings from the progressive sectors of the society, a big step towards a non-discriminatory society.

But every action provoques a reaction... the conservative and traditional part of the society in Spain decided they had had enough, and they started to make noise and to take the streets (traditionally the battle ground of the left). Where before you had half of the population not showing any strong position towards issues, now you found statemenst, opinions, loud voices raising... where before you had a passive attitude towards social changes (like homosexuality being accepted) now you found a strong opposition to bigger steps towards total integration.

Was this the best way to do it? it seems that with this movement the government just woke up past ghosts and gave them space to talk in a very loud voice that is being listened by a big part of the society...