BLOG JUANCARLOS GÓMEZ-MONTEJANO

Spanish Prime Minister/President of the Government Jose Luis Rodríguez Zapatero pledged that the Socialist Party would advance further gay rights should the Spanish population re-elect him on 09 March according to an interview in Zero magazine.

In 2004, when elected, the Zapatero administration positioned itself and Spain as world leader when it comes to the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals.

"We will continue to make reforms to improve the conditions of all," he said in an interview with the monthly gay magazine Zero, where he appeared on the cover for the third time since 2002.

"We must facilitate the implementation of the rights that we have already approved: the right to adoption (for same-sex couples), of course, and the right to legally change sex," he said.

Should the conservative opposition Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, win the election, Zapetero vowed to prevent "a single step backwards" in the policies of his government. "I will do whatever possible so that Mr. Rajoy does not withdraw the rights of any family," he said.

Rajoy has already said that he wants to remove the right to adopt from gay couples in Spain, and indicated he wants gay and lesbian marriage to be called something else.

The interview comes as the Socialists hope for support from the gay and lesbian community in the general election, and the Prime Minister promised to extend the equality law to ensure that any homophobia is met head on.

Spain became only the third member of the European Union, after the Netherlands and Belgium, to allow same-sex marriages in July 2005 with a law that also legalised adoptions by gays and lesbians.

Zapatero has a narrow lead over the right-wing candidate Mariano Rajoy after the first TV duel staged before 9 March elections, Spain's media reported. Three separate opinion polls conducted after the TV debate showed that 45 percent of Spaniards support the Socialist Zapatero in his bid to win another term.

Rajoy, who won support of 30 to 39.3 percent of the respondents, accused Zapatero of lying and misleading the nation, focusing mainly on his leniency toward the separatist organization ETA.

Notably, whilst the PP actions against the gay community are not in the party manifesto, the party interestingly issued a challenge against gay marriage in the Spanish Constitutional Court and the Partido Popular declined to take part in the current election special of Zero magazine.

Wasn't Mariano Rajoy on the cover a few gay magazines proclaiming his own homosexuality and being part of the conservative Popular Party?