http://abcnews.go.com/International/print?id=233165
Nov. 7, 2004 - Italians largely oppose gay marriage with 61 percent rejecting homosexual wedlock and even more opposed to adoption for same-sex couples, a poll on Sunday showed.
In traditionally Roman Catholic Italy, home to the Vatican, only 32 percent of the population is favorable to gay marriage, according to a survey carried out for la Repubblica newspaper.
Only 21 percent of Italians thought a homosexual couple should be allowed to adopt a child.
Gay marriage has become a hot topic in Europe after Spain's new Socialist government approved a law last month that would give gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry, divorce and adopt children as heterosexuals.
Spain's move has been a particularly bitter pill for the Vatican since the law will make the traditionally Catholic country only the third in the world to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands and Belgium.
A similar proposal is not likely in Italy where Church doctrine is still influential as seen by a recent fertility law, which has been called the most restrictive in Europe.
Italy's Minister for European Affairs, Rocco Buttiglione, was forced to withdraw his nomination to the European Commission a week ago after his conservative comments on homosexuality and marriage fell foul of the EU parliament. According to Sunday's poll, Italians are much more open to premarital cohabitation and sex, however, with more than three-quarters of those surveyed saying they thought such practices were "morally acceptable."
Divorce was only considered acceptable by 62 percent of Italians, with 17 percent saying it is "morally wrong."
The poll was carried out between Nov. 2-4 by Eurisko.
Nov. 7, 2004 - Italians largely oppose gay marriage with 61 percent rejecting homosexual wedlock and even more opposed to adoption for same-sex couples, a poll on Sunday showed.
In traditionally Roman Catholic Italy, home to the Vatican, only 32 percent of the population is favorable to gay marriage, according to a survey carried out for la Repubblica newspaper.
Only 21 percent of Italians thought a homosexual couple should be allowed to adopt a child.
Gay marriage has become a hot topic in Europe after Spain's new Socialist government approved a law last month that would give gay and lesbian couples the same right to marry, divorce and adopt children as heterosexuals.
Spain's move has been a particularly bitter pill for the Vatican since the law will make the traditionally Catholic country only the third in the world to legalize gay marriage after the Netherlands and Belgium.
A similar proposal is not likely in Italy where Church doctrine is still influential as seen by a recent fertility law, which has been called the most restrictive in Europe.
Italy's Minister for European Affairs, Rocco Buttiglione, was forced to withdraw his nomination to the European Commission a week ago after his conservative comments on homosexuality and marriage fell foul of the EU parliament. According to Sunday's poll, Italians are much more open to premarital cohabitation and sex, however, with more than three-quarters of those surveyed saying they thought such practices were "morally acceptable."
Divorce was only considered acceptable by 62 percent of Italians, with 17 percent saying it is "morally wrong."
The poll was carried out between Nov. 2-4 by Eurisko.
