The Fight Over Gay Rights

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Rocco Buttiglione could hardly have anticipated the firestorm he was about to unleash. Appearing earlier this month at what should have been a routine hearing before a European Parliament committee, the E.U. Commissioner — designate for Justice, Freedom and Security was asked about discrimination against homosexuals. In response Buttiglione, a close friend and a biographer of Pope John Paul II, cited his Roman Catholic faith and said he considered homosexuality a "sin" and marriage an institution intended to give women "the right to have children and the protection of a man." What happened next was anything but routine. Many committee members were furious at what they considered such blatantly discriminatory views from a man who would be tasked with defending sexual equality, and demanded that the Commission's President — designate, José Manuel Durão Barroso, either sack Buttiglione or move him to another post. Barroso didn't budge. Unless a compromise can be found—or one side backs down—the dispute could scuttle the entire 25 — member European Commission before it even takes office, as scheduled, on Nov. 1. The episode is a reminder of how, despite the secular values professed by many Europeans, church and state can still clash—with powerful and unpredictable results.

Cultural and religious fault lines have opened up around issues like stem — cell research, therapeutic cloning, assisted reproduction and euthanasia, but gay rights is perhaps the most divisive. In Spain, whose kings and queens were once the most fervent defenders of the Christian faith, the Socialist government has launched a radical reform of family law that will grant gays and lesbians full legal status as parents and allow them to marry. In Ireland, another former Roman Catholic bastion, politicians from all parties meet this week to discuss whether the constitution should be changed to give homosexual couples the same rights as heterosexual ones. In England, the leaders of the worldwide Anglican Communion last week issued a report saying that if its pro — and anti — gay factions couldn't reconcile their differences then "we shall have to begin to learn to walk apart." And in Sweden, evangelical pastor Ake Green is appealing a one — month prison sentence for preaching that homosexuality represents "a deep cancerous tumor in society."

Although Europe has a long tradition of protecting gay rights—Denmark was the first to introduce registered partnerships for gay couples in 1989, while the Dutch legalized same — sex marriage in 2001—the issue still has the power to polarize. What's remarkable in this battle is how deeply each side feels itself a victim of the other's intolerance. The Green group in Parliament claimed that Buttiglione's "personal beliefs make it unlikely that he will take any positive initiative on gender equality." Martin Schulz, head of the Socialist group, bluntly accused Buttiglione of espousing "19th century values." But Carlo Giovanardi, Italy's Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and a Buttiglione ally, says a "Taliban" mentality has consumed his opponents: "We haven't seen an attack against religious freedom like this since the end of World War II. It's a new witch hunt." One of the Vatican's most outspoken Cardinals, former U.N. emissary Renato Raffaele Martino, lashed out at what he called a "new Holy Inquisition" led by a "powerful cultural, economic and political lobby … against all that is Christian."

Spain, for the moment, is where the battle rages fiercest. The Socialist — led government will allow homosexuals to marry and adopt children; the Church has called on Spanish Catholics to fight the legislation. Javier Garcia, 40, who wants to marry his Brazilian partner, Mario Almeida, thinks the Church's opposition is wrongheaded. Both men are Roman Catholic. "Most Christians think homosexuals should be able to get married," he says. Indeed, polls show that some 60% of Spaniards support legalizing gay marriage, and around 250,000 couples are awaiting the new law, which will be debated in parliament in the next few weeks and is almost certain to pass. "We've waited a long time for this," says Beatriz Gimeno, president of the National Federation of Lesbians, Gays and Transsexuals and one of the people behind the current legislation.

Pedro Almodóvar, the Oscar — winning Spanish director whose latest film, Bad Education, deals with homosexuality and the Roman Catholic Church, finds the clerics' opposition self — defeating. "What the Church is doing—really badly—is fighting against citizens," Almodóvar told TIME. "As secularism grows stronger and stronger every day, the role of the Church is growing smaller and smaller."