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Five reasons why Spain is a great place to be gay

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Five reasons why Spain is a great place to be gay
The Europride parade in Madrid. Photo: Bru Garcia / AFP.
10:07 CEST+02:00
The Local takes a look some of the major advantages for the LGBT community in Spain.

1. Legalizing gay marriage was so last decade

A group of celebrates in June 2005 the Spanish parliament's approval of same-sex marriage. Photo: Pedro Armestre / AFP.

While the US grapples with its own countrywide stance on gay marriage, Spain made gay marriage legal in 2005. At that time, some states in the US had only just struck down bans against homosexual intercourse and conduct.

2. Spain loves gay people

Spain was ranked the most gay-friendly country in the entire world in the last Pew Research Center poll in 2013, with 88 percent of those surveyed responding “yes” to the question: Should society accept homosexuality?

In comparison, 60 percent of American respondents said yes to the same statement.

In a recent study, Spain was hailed as a 'model' nation for gay rights in Europe. The report from IGLA-Europe recognised Spain for  laws pertaining to same-sex marriage, adoption, rights for transgender people, and more.

Additionally, capital Madrid and Barcelona are often rated in lists of the best travel destinations for LGBT people.

3. Having a family is easier than elsewhere


Same-sex couples in Spain have also been able to adopt a child together for ten years, while countries like Germany still struggle with the issue.

Plus, a child born by in vitro fertilization in Spain may also be recognized as the child of the biological mother’s same-sex partner.

4. Discrimination is never OK

Unlike in the United States where laws against sexual orientation-based discrimination vary by state, Spanish laws have been in place completely forbidding it since 1996.

According to Rainbow Europe’s Country Index, sexual orientation-based discrimination is illegal in both employment and goods and services in Spain.

5. The gay pride parades are world-renowned
A gay pride parade in Madrid. Photo: Pierre-Philippe Marcou / AFP.

Madrid’s pride parade may be one of the biggest worldwide, but there are also notable parades in Barcelona, Valencia and Seville. In 2012, Madrid hosted one of the largest parades with a reported 1.2 million people in attendance.

The 2007 Europride parade hosted in the capital also saw a huge turnout of more than 2 million people.

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