Spain is recognized worldwide as one of the most liberal and culturally gay-friendly countries in the word. Over the past few decades, LGBT + rights have undergone various changes, such as reforms and above all, they have made numerous progress. If we retrace the history of the LGBT + community in Spain we see that already in 1994-1997, the civil union was approved, instead in countries like Italy we have to wait until 2016. The Civil Unions that apparently may seem a goal, in reality it is not. Indeed, we would like to remind that couples linked by the institution of the civil union do not have the possibility of adopting a child, or resorting to assisted reproduction, and furthermore, children are not recognized as children of both parents but only of the biological one. The most emblematic date in Spanish history regarding LGBT + rights is 30 June 2005 which marks an important turning point for the Spanish institutions, and especially for this community. Exactly 15 years ago, the Spanish parliament approved the law that legalizes gay marriage, on the same level of the traditional one, and adoption. The law obtained 187 votes in favor, 147 against and 4 abstentions. This date marks an important moment for the rights that up to then same-sex couples did not have. In fact, since there was no law that legalized marriage, the spouses had no right to inheritances, pensions, and adoptions. The law in question was strongly desired by the Prime Minister, exponent of the socialist party, José Luis Zapatero. The reform in question provides a real change to the Spanish civil code. We have in fact the replacement of the words "wife and husband" with "spouses", and as regards the adoptions of the words "mother and father" with "parents".
Following the favourable vote of this law, the reactions were different and conflicting. To make some examples, the president of the LGBT+ Federation Beatriz Gimeno said: "an historic day for all citizens who believe in equality, justice and the rule of law", Premier José Luis Zapatero in his speech made before the vote, that same day, in Parliament said: "We are not legislating for foreigners or people who live far away, but we are accumulating the possibilities of joy for our neighbours, our friends, our work colleagues, our family members ". Despite these positive comments and reactions, there was no shortage of criticisms, which, as expected, are numerous and mainly came from the world of the Catholic Church. This law was defined by the EEC (Spanish bishops' conference) as "very negative", inviting the community to oppose to this law by all legitimate means. In the Spanish reality obviously, this negative reaction is certainly not a surprise, in fact we see that on June 18, a few weeks before the vote, they took to the streets to demonstrate against this reform.
Spain in Europe was the third country to introduce this right, after Holland and Belgium, but the first ever to introduce the right of adoption. Over the following years many countries followed in the footsteps of Spain, as far as the European countries are concerned, France in 2013, the United Kingdom 2014, Germany 2017 and many others. For non-European countries in Brazil 2013, United States 2015, Costa Rica 2020 and many others.
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