Free Republic

Parliamentarians in Slovakia enshrined marriage as a “unique bond between a man and a woman” in the country’s Constitution May 4, with 102 National Council members backing the amendment, 18 opposing it, and three abstentions. The amendment was brought to the National Council by the Christian Democrats, and supported by the government, despite the latter being led by the socialist SMER party. A government spokesman told a press conference that the proposal simply upholds the existing situation. “The marriage amendment will not bring about any drastic changes, it only seals in the constitution what is already defined by law,” said...

On March 5th, 2014, the Juridical Commission of Romania’s Chamber of Deputies rejected a bill proposing legal recognition for civil partnerships signed before a notary. The bill had already been rejected by Romania’s Senate (with 105 votes against and 2 in favor). After its unanimous rejection by the Juridical Commission, the last chance would be for it to be introduced directly to the plenary session of the Chamber of Deputies. This is exactly what its sponsor, Remus Cernea, independent Member of Parliament and a promoter of secular humanism, intends to do, though with little chances of success. Romanian MP Diana...

ZAGREB: A majority of Croatians voted in a referendum Sunday to ban gay marriages in what is a major victory for the Catholic Church-backed conservatives in the European Union´s newest nation. The state electoral commission, citing near complete results, said 65 percent of those who voted answered "yes" to the referendum question: "Do you agree that marriage is matrimony between a man and a woman?" About 34 percent voted against. The result meant that Croatia´s constitution will be amended to ban same-sex marriage. The vote has deeply divided Croatia. Liberal groups have said the referendum´s question infringes on basic human...

SYDNEY: Australia's highest court struck down a landmark law on Thursday that had begun allowing the country's first gay marriages, shattering the dreams of more than two dozen same-sex newlyweds whose marriages will now be annulled less than a week after their weddings.

A week or so ago I posted about Archbishop John Nienstedt’s (St. Paul and Minneapolis) initiative to promote a defense of true and natural marriage in an amendment to the State Constitution of Minnesota. His Excellency indicated to the priests of the Archdiocese that if they had an objection to his intiatives, they should not make those objections a matter of public scandal (my description… because that is what objections would cause). In the past some priests of the Archdicoese have publicly attacked their Archbishop, even in the local newspaper. Now I read in the Strib that there may be...