By Tito Drago
MADRID, Nov 4 2002 (IPS)

Spain’s ‘Guardia Civil’, the national militarised police, are "coming out of the closet" – as Spaniards refer to the act of recognising one’s homosexuality -, according to an announcement Monday by the force’s leaders.

The Guardia Civil will move "immediately" to issue an order related to the "home-barracks" in which its married troops live, to authorise the homosexuals among its ranks to live in the same conditions with their partners.

A member of the force in a town on Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, and who asked that his name not be made public, triggered the decision when he asked for authorisation to live with his male partner.

The officer, who has the support of the non-official Guardia Civil Unified Association, at first received a "no" to his request for "married housing" three weeks ago.

As a result, last Friday he asked for temporary leave due to a deep depression caused, according to his lawyers, by the psychological strain of having his situation – if not his name – made public.

Juan Miguel Pepinyá, the Balearics secretary of the Unified Association and the personal representative of the officer in question, pointed out that there are other cases of homosexual couples in the Guardia Civil.

However, this is the first time that a gay officer has gone public and demanded the same access to official housing as his heterosexual colleagues.

He and his partner have registered their union – not legally a marriage – with the municipal government of a small town on Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, located in the northern Mediterranean Sea.

Pepinyá noted that a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which prohibits sexual discrimination, would allow the officer to appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal if the Guardia Civil authorities maintained their refusal to grant him and his partner official housing.

In Spain, homosexuality was repressed with an iron-fist during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who held power from the end of the Civil War (1936-1939) until his death in November 1975. With Spain’s democratisation came more tolerant attitudes on social questions across the board.

Armand de Fluviá, an expert in coats of arms, was the first Spaniard to publicly acknowledge that he was gay. He did so on a television programme in 1978 at the age of 71.

Until August 1994, the regulations of the general directorate of the Guardia Civil established that the home-barracks could be used by the officer, "spouse, and family members of both to the second level of kinship."

That order was modified in March 2000, clarifying that the authorisation did not extend to homosexual couples. But it did establish that Guardia Civil officers could live in the home- barracks "with the spouse or the person with whom the officer forms a stable heterosexual couple," thus allowing common-law spouses.

Sources from the Guardia Civil directorate informed IPS that the new regulation will establish that "any stable couple, regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual" can live in the home-barracks, in the same conditions as married or common- law couple.

Political parties and non-governmental organisations specialising in civil rights applaud the announcement, but generally agree that it does not go far enough.

The leftist Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the leading opposition force to the ruling centre-right Popular Party (PP), says members of the Guardia Civil should be paid a salary that would allow them to rent housing and live with their families off the military base.

That position was strengthened after the illegal Basque separatist group ETA bombed one of the home-barracks, killing the six-year-old daughter of an officer.

Ben Amics de Palma de Mallorca, a gay-lesbian rights group, expressed "enormous satisfaction" with regard to the new Guardia Civil housing order.

But while it marks a big step forward, the activists say what is truly needed is legislation that allows homosexuals to legally marry, a right that is not recognised in Spain.

Victorino Mayoral, PSOE spokesman on the Parliament’s Interior Committee, said the Guardia Civil has made a good decision, "one that is fitting for a democratic and secular state like Spain."

He added that the application of the new housing order must be closely monitored so that the agents who choose to take advantage of the opportunity do not suffer negative consequences, disrespect or isolation from their peers or their superiors on the force.

The Triangle Foundation, which promotes social equality for gays and lesbians, also applauded the Guardia Civil’s announcement, but stressed that Spain’s government, headed by President José María Aznar (of the PP), must acknowledge the opinion of the majority of citizens and use the party majority to change the law.

Triangle director Francisco Peña told IPS that a law is needed to give de facto couples the right – whether they are heterosexual or homosexual – to adopt children, for example.

Polls conducted by the governmental Centre for Sociological Research indicate that 70 percent of respondents approve of the legalisation of such couples and more than 50 percent believe they should have the right to adopt children, said Peña.

However, "a minority that dominates the Popular Party maintains its reactionary, radical rightwing ideas when it comes to this matter," the activist said.

Felipe Alcaraz, general coordinator of the United Left (a coalition centred on the Communist Party), commented that the attitude of the militarised police should be extended to the rest of Spain’s armed forces.

Beatriz Gimeno, spokeswoman for the lesbian and gay movement in Madrid, added her voice of approval to the housing order, noting that the top brass of the Guardia Civil did not have an option because they knew they would lose if the case made it to court.

Socialist lawmaker Miguel Iceta, who "came out of the closet" in 1999, stated Monday that he had received support from numerous sectors in his decision to go public about his homosexuality. Defence minister Federico Trillo and Roman Catholic priests had contacted him to express their support.

In 2000, lieutenant colonel José Sánchez Silva and Jerónimo Saavedra, a former Aznar minister and former president of the autonomous government of the Canary Islands, both publicly acknowledged that they are gay.

Catholic priest José Mantero "came out" earlier this year. "I give thanks to God for being gay," said the priest, though he could not count on acceptance by the Catholic Church, which suspended him from his priestly duties.

Excerpt:

By Tito Drago
MADRID, Nov 4 2002 (IPS)

Spain’s ‘Guardia Civil’, the national militarised police, are “coming out of the closet” — as Spaniards refer to the act of recognising one’s homosexuality –, according to an announcement Monday by the force’s leaders.

The Guardia Civil will move “immediately” to issue an order related to the “home-barracks” in which its married troops live, to authorise the homosexuals among its ranks to live in the same conditions with their partners.

A member of the force in a town on Mallorca, one of the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, and who asked that his name not be made public, triggered the decision when he asked for authorisation to live with his male partner.

The officer, who has the support of the non-official Guardia Civil Unified Association, at first received a “no” to his request for “married housing” three weeks ago.

As a result, last Friday he asked for temporary leave due to a deep depression caused, according to his lawyers, by the psychological strain of having his situation — if not his name — made public.

Juan Miguel Pepinyá, the Balearics secretary of the Unified Association and the personal representative of the officer in question, pointed out that there are other cases of homosexual couples in the Guardia Civil.

However, this is the first time that a gay officer has gone public and demanded the same access to official housing as his heterosexual colleagues.

He and his partner have registered their union — not legally a marriage — with the municipal government of a small town on Mallorca, the largest of the Balearic Islands, located in the northern Mediterranean Sea.

Pepinyá noted that a strict interpretation of the Constitution, which prohibits sexual discrimination, would allow the officer to appeal to the Constitutional Tribunal if the Guardia Civil authorities maintained their refusal to grant him and his partner official housing.

In Spain, homosexuality was repressed with an iron-fist during the dictatorship of Francisco Franco, who held power from the end of the Civil War (1936-1939) until his death in November 1975. With Spain’s democratisation came more tolerant attitudes on social questions across the board.

Armand de Fluviá, an expert in coats of arms, was the first Spaniard to publicly acknowledge that he was gay. He did so on a television programme in 1978 at the age of 71.

Until August 1994, the regulations of the general directorate of the Guardia Civil established that the home-barracks could be used by the officer, “spouse, and family members of both to the second level of kinship.”

That order was modified in March 2000, clarifying that the authorisation did not extend to homosexual couples. But it did establish that Guardia Civil officers could live in the home- barracks “with the spouse or the person with whom the officer forms a stable heterosexual couple,” thus allowing common-law spouses.

Sources from the Guardia Civil directorate informed IPS that the new regulation will establish that “any stable couple, regardless of whether it is heterosexual or homosexual” can live in the home-barracks, in the same conditions as married or common- law couple.

Political parties and non-governmental organisations specialising in civil rights applaud the announcement, but generally agree that it does not go far enough.

The leftist Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), the leading opposition force to the ruling centre-right Popular Party (PP), says members of the Guardia Civil should be paid a salary that would allow them to rent housing and live with their families off the military base.

That position was strengthened after the illegal Basque separatist group ETA bombed one of the home-barracks, killing the six-year-old daughter of an officer.

Ben Amics de Palma de Mallorca, a gay-lesbian rights group, expressed “enormous satisfaction” with regard to the new Guardia Civil housing order.

But while it marks a big step forward, the activists say what is truly needed is legislation that allows homosexuals to legally marry, a right that is not recognised in Spain.

Victorino Mayoral, PSOE spokesman on the Parliament’s Interior Committee, said the Guardia Civil has made a good decision, “one that is fitting for a democratic and secular state like Spain.”

He added that the application of the new housing order must be closely monitored so that the agents who choose to take advantage of the opportunity do not suffer negative consequences, disrespect or isolation from their peers or their superiors on the force.

The Triangle Foundation, which promotes social equality for gays and lesbians, also applauded the Guardia Civil’s announcement, but stressed that Spain’s government, headed by President José María Aznar (of the PP), must acknowledge the opinion of the majority of citizens and use the party majority to change the law.

Triangle director Francisco Peña told IPS that a law is needed to give de facto couples the right — whether they are heterosexual or homosexual — to adopt children, for example.

Polls conducted by the governmental Centre for Sociological Research indicate that 70 percent of respondents approve of the legalisation of such couples and more than 50 percent believe they should have the right to adopt children, said Peña.

However, “a minority that dominates the Popular Party maintains its reactionary, radical rightwing ideas when it comes to this matter,” the activist said.

Felipe Alcaraz, general coordinator of the United Left (a coalition centred on the Communist Party), commented that the attitude of the militarised police should be extended to the rest of Spain’s armed forces.

Beatriz Gimeno, spokeswoman for the lesbian and gay movement in Madrid, added her voice of approval to the housing order, noting that the top brass of the Guardia Civil did not have an option because they knew they would lose if the case made it to court.

Socialist lawmaker Miguel Iceta, who “came out of the closet” in 1999, stated Monday that he had received support from numerous sectors in his decision to go public about his homosexuality. Defence minister Federico Trillo and Roman Catholic priests had contacted him to express their support.

In 2000, lieutenant colonel José Sánchez Silva and Jerónimo Saavedra, a former Aznar minister and former president of the autonomous government of the Canary Islands, both publicly acknowledged that they are gay.

Catholic priest José Mantero “came out” earlier this year. “I give thanks to God for being gay,” said the priest, though he could not count on acceptance by the Catholic Church, which suspended him from his priestly duties.

Excerpt: