Recently, Portugal became one of the few countries in the world where same-sex marriages are allowed and legally recognized. On the 5 June 2010 a law regarding this issue was passed through the nation’s parliament.

The bill for the legalization of these marriages was proposed by the Prime Minister Jose Socrates in December the previous year. Then, in February the bill was passed through the Assembly of the Republic as the national assembly is called in Portugal. Then, the law was found valid by the Constitutional Court in the end of April. The law took effect in June after the official publication in the government newspaper Diario de Republica.

The issue created a lot of controversy in this predominantly Catholic state. It all started when a lesbian couple applied for a marriage license in 2006. After the denial they decide to go to court because they considered that it was against their rights. They claimed that this was discrimination against them because of their sexual orientation. According to the Portuguese constitution gender discrimination is banned since 1976 and sexual in 2004. In 2007 their claim was denied and they moved to the next level- the Constitutional Court. In 2009 the constitutional court declared on a very close vote that the text of the main law does not forbid or oppose same sex-marriages. Therefore, they stated that the decision must be made by the legislative power.

In 2008 two consecutive attempts to pass such a bill were rejected. Then, in 2009 the prime minister who had been recently reelected decided to put the issue for discussion again. Thanks to his party’s recent victory he managed to convince the parliament of the importance of this step towards equality in Portuguese society.

Now, Portugal is among the 7 European states that recognize same-sex marriages and the 8 worldwide.

Car rental companies that operate on the territory of Portugal are: Easy Car, Auto Europe, and Argus, Hertz, Avis and Opodo car hire.

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