last week, i went on holiday to Spain. Something i noticed, and that other people commentated on was how the lgbt community was much more open than in England, and it got me wondering. As a general trend, countries which are more linked to the church, are generally more backwards when it comes to lgbt rights, yet despite Spain's strong link to Catholicism, it is the second most accepting country in Europe, after Germany. i just thought i'd ask and see if anyone else had any ideas to why this might be?
i find it odd how they measure these things - more accepting? like, smaller societies, notably portugal and denmmark, often go uncredited. yeah spain has always been a strong advocate of catholicism, but it also has a sizeable muslim community, and islam has had just as large an impact in spain (and portugal) as catholicism, perhaps even more so in some areas. i think the last century ripped the issue of religion out of their conciousness, quite frankly. after franco, with the restoration of monarchy, inclusion into the european community, and overall liberalisation process, the iberian nations appear to be more accepting (that is, judging from lgbt rights/laws). so to try and be more specific, i don't think spain's religious background of any sort has had much of an impact on the running of the modern democracy. ---------- Post added 3rd Jul 2013 at 11:54 PM ---------- i forgot to add, there may be differences between regions, particularly those that are semi-autonomous and mind their own business, spain is a kingdom after all.
I think, and this is me speaking without any foundation, many countries in Europe love tradition and still embrace modernity. Some of these accepting societies still maintain the vestiges of the monarchy and official state church, but perhaps more as a token to the olden days. Sweden, Spain, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, (and, to a lesser extent, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg) all have monarchies and are very (or somewhat) liberal. Several of these also have state religions. So, perhaps Europe loves to have the best of both worlds.
One can take the example of Quebec in this context. Up until about 55 or so years ago, this province was under the thumb of a right-wing and nationalist provincial government in league with what was then a very powerful Catholic church. Everything changed in the 60's, a large baby boomer generation and political liberalization led to what was called "La Révolution Tranquille" the Quiet Revolution. Now, church attendance has never been lower, the birthrate has plunged to below replacement level and many of Montreal`s many churches are being converted into condos...
