Google – AFP, Veselica (AFP), 30 November 2013
Croatian
gay rights supporters hold a giant rainbow flag outside the parliament
building
in Saint Marko Square during a protest in Zagreb on November 30, 2013 (AFP)
|
Zagreb —
Gay rights supporters in conservative and mainly Catholic Croatia staged
protests on Saturday on the eve of a controversial referendum that could outlaw
same-sex marriage in the EU's newest member state.
More than
1,000 people braved the cold and rainy weather to gather in a square in
downtown Zagreb for a protest march against Sunday's vote, which they see as
discriminatory.
"We
urge voters... to protect minority rights so that no one in Croatia becomes a
second class citizen," gay rights activist Sanja Juras told the crowd.
A policeman
stands guard as Croatian gay
rights activists hold a banner reading
"I
vote against" as they march in downtown
Zagreb during a protest on
November 30,
2013 (AFP)
|
Demonstrators
taking part in the "I vote against" march also carried banners in
rainbow colours, reading: "Homosexuality is not a choice but hatred
is" and "Let's protect all loves".
Sunday's
referendum on whether to amend the country's constitution to define marriage as
a "union between a woman and a man" is the result of a Church-backed
initiative. Croatia's constitution currently does not define marriage.
The vote
has sparked a heated public debate, splitting the country's 4.2 million
inhabitants.
Many
conservatives in Croatia, which joined the European Union this year, began
fearing that same-sex marriage would be allowed in the country after the
centre-left government announced a bill enabling gay couples to register as
"life partners".
In May, the
Church-backed In the Name of the Family group collected over 700,000 signatures
seeking a nationwide vote on gay marriage.
"We
believe that marriage, children and family are so important issues that the
whole society has to decide on them," the leader of the initiative, Zeljka
Markic, told AFP.
The
government, human rights activists and prominent public figures have all spoken
out against the referendum, urging people to cast a 'no' vote.
"With
this sentence in the constitution we would make lives of our fellow citizens,
who are a sexual minority, more difficult," warned Damir Kovacic, who took
part in Saturday's protest with his wife.
"And
tomorrow a referendum about someone else's rights might be on the agenda,"
the 34-year-old electrical engineer told AFP.
But in a
country where almost 90 percent of population are Roman Catholics, the Church
has vehemently urged followers to vote 'yes'.
"Marriage
is the only union enabling procreation," said Croatia's Cardinal Josip
Bozanic in a letter read out in churches.
"This
is the key difference between a marriage... and other unions."
The latest
survey showed that 68 percent of Croatians on Sunday would vote 'yes' compared
to 27 percent against.
"It is
natural and normal that a child grows up in a marriage of a man and a
woman," Katarina Mitermajer, a doctor in her 50s, who plans to vote 'yes',
told AFP.
Croatian
gay rights supporters sport
stickers reading "Vote against" take part
in a protest outside the parliament
building in Saint Marko Square in
Zagreb on
November 30, 2013 (AFP)
|
Attitudes
towards gay rights have slowly been improving since Croatia's first Gay Pride
parade was held in Zagreb in 2002, when dozens of participants were beaten up
by extremists.
Pride
parades are now staged regularly if still under strong security, while gay
rights are more openly discussed in the media and people are becoming less
fearful of "coming out".
In 2003
Croatia adopted a law recognising same-sex couples who have lived together for
at least three years. Yet apart from official acknowledgement, the measure
granted them few rights.
Sunday's
vote is the first citizens-initiated referendum since Croatia's independence
from the former Yugoslavia in 1991.
Under
Croatian law, a referendum does not require a majority voter turnout to be
valid.
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