A Historic Opinion
La Opinión becomes the first Spanish language newspaper in the Americas to support same-sex marriage.
By Kelly Cogswell

Complete Coverage

Gay Mundo Americas

FEB. 22, 2004. The New York Times' sudden editorial enthusiasm for same-sex marriage earlier this week was almost as surprising as the sudden burst of the marriages themselves in San Francisco, and the curmudgeonly denunciation of them by openly gay U.S. Representative Barney Frank.

But perhaps even more significant was an editorial supporting same-sex marriage that appeared Saturday in the largest Spanish language daily in the United States, La Opinión.

The Los Angeles newspaper had previously criticized attacks on gay civil unions by both the Vatican and the White House, but with the February 21 editorial, La Opinión became the first Spanish newspaper in all of the Americas to publically support same-sex marriage, announced Mónica Taher, of the media watchdog Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

La Opinión wrote, in It's a Question of Rights, "The legal acts of the last few days in the municipality of San Francisco should be respected for correcting an injustice in the law. The institution of matrimony is not endangered by the civil marriages of homosexuals... The rights and obligations that everyone should have before the law is a matter for all responsible human beings no matter what their private preference."

Deservedly, La Opinión has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for the Spanish-language category of Best Overall Coverage.

From the Web

• New York Times: Gay Marriage in the States
• La Opinión: Es una cuestión de derechos