Spanish judge ordered to marry British gay couple
A judge in the Denia region of Spain has been forced to marry a British gay couple she had previously refused.
Laura Alabau was ordered by the government to wed the couple after the General Direction of the Registry ruled that there is no legal impediment to stop the British couple’s marriage being carried out.
Famed as the first magistrate in Spain to make an appeal to the Constitutional Court against homosexual marriage, she has repeatedly refused to carry out same-sex marriages.
She first refused to issue a marriage licence to a lesbian couple in July 2005 and again in March last year with the British gay couple.
She said that it was not appropriate for the British to wed in Spain, as the UK does not recognise same-sex marriages.
Her appeal was thrown out on the basis that the judge was not competent to place the claim and was fined 305 euros (£240) for her prejudice.
She has so far been labelled as a homophobic with calls for her to resign.
Alabau claims that she is a victim of persecution and is being used as a ‘vehicle for propaganda’, reports the Euroweekly news.
Spain legalised same-sex marriage in 2005.
However, two non-resident foreigners cannot marry in Spain, unless one or both of them are resident in the country.
