Thursday, June 30, 2005 Updated at 4:49 AM EDT

Associated Press

Madrid ­ Legislators on Thursday voted to make traditionally Roman Catholic Spain the world's fourth country to give same-sex couples many of the same rights as heterosexual spouses.

The law -- sponsored by the ruling Socialists as part of an agenda for bold social reforms just a year after taking office -- would give gay couples the same rights to inheritance and allow them to adopt children as heterosexual married couples.

Conservative legislators and the Roman Catholic Church had fiercely opposed the bill, but were not able block it from getting support from a majority in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies.

The Senate, where conservatives comprise the largest group, rejected it last week but final say on legislation rests with the Congress.

“This victory in Spain will make many other countries start the battle for equality because it is possible,” gay rights activist Beatriz Gimeno said earlier this week. “If Spain, a Catholic and southern Mediterranean country with a short history of policies in protecting social freedoms can do it, it is perfectly possible that any other European country can do it.”

The Netherlands and Belgium approved same-sex marriages in 2000 and 2003. Canada expects to legalize same-sex marriages before the end of July.

For gays and lesbian couples in Spain, the new law would mean an end to years of discrimination, advocates say.

“Now we also have the right to show off our marriage. We are clear that our love is the same as any other,” said Boti Garcia, Ms. Gimeno's long-time partner.

Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government proposed the legislation shortly after winning 2004 elections after eight years of conservative rule.

Mr. Zapatero told legislators on the day he was confirmed as Prime Minister that he would fight discrimination against homosexuals and propose legislation to allow them to legally marry. Other parties have said they would back the bill.

Conservative groups, however, have urged lawmakers to block the bill, and the church has become furious, taking the rare step of endorsing a rally in which hundreds of thousands marched through Madrid in opposition to the bill. Some 20 bishops took part in the June 18 rally.

On Wednesday, a Catholic lay group presented lawmakers with a petition bearing 600,000 signatures as a last-minute protest. The Spanish Family Forum said those signatures were in addition to half a million others presented last month urging the government to call a referendum on the issue.

The organization also wants conservative lawmakers opposed to gay marriage to file a lawsuit seeking to have the bill declared unconstitutional because marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman.

Late last year, the spokesman for the Spanish Bishops Conference, Antonio Martinez Camino said that allowing gay marriage was like “imposing a virus on society -- something false that will have negative consequences for social life.”

A survey released in May by pollster Instituto Opina said 62 per cent of Spaniards support the government's action on this issue, and 30 per cent oppose it.

But surveys show Spaniards about evenly split over whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children.

If the bill passes, the first marriages of gay couples would be concluded only after the law is published in Spain's official journal, expected as early as 15 days after the parliamentary vote, the Federation of Gays and Lesbians said