By Matthew Cullinan Hoffman
SPAIN, July 25, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Spanish pro-family activist group, HazteOir, has filed charges against the organizers of the 2008 Madrid “Gay Pride” march for “hate speech,” according to the group’s website.
HazteOir accuses the march organizers of making hateful statements against Catholics, pro-family organizations, and those politicians opposed to the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party (PSOE) . The PSOE, which currently occupies the position of Prime Minister and holds a majority in the Spanish Parliament, supports special “rights” for homosexuals.
Amongst numerous other things, “Gay Pride” marchers in Madrid held a banner depicting Pope Benedict XVI on fire and calling him “chief of the inquisitors.”
“Yet again, the march has been marked by attacks against the Catholic Church, mockery of the bishops and slogans against Christians, ” writes HazteOir.
Article 525.1 of the Spanish Penal Code, which HazteOir is invoking to support their case, applies a heavy fine of 8 to 12 months of pay to those who seek to “hurt the feelings of the members of a religious confession” by “publicly, by word or through any type of document, make fun of their dogmas, beliefs, rites, or ceremonies, or publicly humiliate those who profess or practice them.”
The organization’s charges against the organizers of the “Gay Pride” march are similar to a tactic that homosexual groups have used against pro-family groups in Spain in the past.
In January of this year the Spanish State Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Transsexuals and Bisexuals (FELGT) filed a criminal complaint against the Catholic Bishop of Tenerife, Bernardo Alvarez, for denouncing homosexual behavior and comparing it to the sexual abuse of minors. Alvarez ultimately retracted his statement.
Related LifeSiteNews Coverage:
Spanish Clergyman Investigated for Encouraging Heterosexual Child Development
Homosexual Groups Threaten to Sue
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08010304.html
Spanish Homosexuals File Criminal Charges Against Bishop for Condemning Sodomy
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2008/jan/08011408.html