Portuguese president to sign law allowing gay marriage

LISBON, 18 may (Xinhua) -- President Anibal Cavaco Silva says he will reluctantly sign into law a bill allowing gay marriages in Portugal "to end a pointless extension of this debate."

In a televised national address broadcast Monday in the predominantly Catholic country, the conservative president said he put his "personal convictions" aside in deciding to sign the bill.

Silva said that he would not veto the bill because lawmakers might overturn his decision, and that Portugal needed to focus on overcoming the economic crisis that has increased unemployment and deepened poverty.

"I feel I should not contribute to a pointless extension of this debate, which would only serve to deepen the divisions between the Portuguese and divert the attention of politicians away from the severe problems affecting us," he said.

The bill was passed by the center-left majority parliament in January, although the opposition right-of-center parties voted against it.

The law explicitly states that same-sex couples, even if they are married, do not have the right to adopt children.

Pope Benedict XVI criticised gay marriage and abortion as "insidious and dangerous threats to the common good" during a visit to Portugal last week.

Elsewhere in Europe, gay marriage is permitted in Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Norway in allowing same-sex marriages.

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