Uruguay debating 'gay marriage' bill

Weeks after Uruguay became the latest country in Latin America to legalize abortion, the local congress is debating a measure that would modify the nation's law to allow for same-sex “marriage.”

Media outlets in the country reported that the Congressional Committee on the Constitution and the Law will vote on Nov. 14 on each of the twenty nine sections of the measure that was introduced in August of 2011.

While the measure has the support of the ruling party of President Jose Mujica, lawmakers have acknowledged that there is not a consensus on the issue.

Federico Grana of the gay advocacy group Black Sheep – which contributed to the drafting of the measure – called it “a huge step forward for Uruguayan society.”

However, the country's National Party rejected proposals to make same-sex unions equivalent to marriage. 

The party's Senator Francisco Gallinal told local newspaper El Pais that passage of the law “would discourage the biological family protected by the country’s Constitution.”