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20,000 Gather in Opposition to Legalizing Homosexual "Marriage" in Costa Rica

By Jenna Murphy

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, July 31, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Over 20,000 people gathered in the streets of San Jose last Saturday to voice their opposition to a legislative proposal that, if passed, will legalize same-sex "marriage" in Costa Rica.

Despite heavy pressure from homosexual activists, Costa Rican courts ruled homosexual "marriage" unconstitutional in 2006; but the issue is now being re-examined by the legislative assembly.

"We’re calling out against the law that the Legislative Assembly is considering, to allow for homosexual civil unions,” said march participant Reynaldo Salazar, according to CostaRicapages.com.

Earlier this month, the Bishop's conference of Costa Rica addressed a letter to the country's law-makers explaining that "laws favorable to homosexual unions are contrary to correct reasoning because they confer legal guarantees proper to the institution of marriage to unions between people of the same sex. Considering the values in question, the State cannot legalize these unions without failing in its duty to promote and protect an essential institution for the common good, which marriage is."

Though three-quarters of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholic, Catholics are not alone in expressing their concern over the matter, as last week's march was organized by the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance.

In a 2006 poll by Universidad Costa Rica, it was revealed that 71.4 percent of the respondents were against the legalization of same-sex "marriage."

The bishops said that in changing the marital laws to favor same-sex "marriage," the government would be making changes that are "contrary to the common good of the entire social order." The bishops also called on Catholic lawmakers to "speak out and vote against this measure, and to those who do not share our faith, to examine the arguments we have laid out.  And in conformity with the rules of correct reasoning, of human nature and of life in society, not to cast their vote for a bill that clearly goes against the common good of the residents of our country."

See related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:

Forget Same-Sex 'Marriage,' Costa Ricans Oppose Homosexual Civil Unions
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/sep/06092009.html

Costa Rican Supreme Court says No to Homosexual "Marriage"
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/may/06053004.html

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