Teresa and Lena live together for almost three years now. On the next February 1st 2006 at 14:30h, Teresa and Lena will present themselves at the 7th Conservatory of the Lisbon Civil Registry (Av. Fontes Pereira de Melo, nr. 7 – 1st Floor – Lisbon), where they have requested the opening of the respective process to be married.

Detail of news via “Random Precision”

“ Teresa and Lena have all they need in the process to legally marry in order and within the law in the Conservatory of Civil Registry. As citizens they have total and unequivocal matrimonial capacity to marry. But, it happens that ‘a small detail’ stands between them and their plans for a free family life together legally recognized: it is article 1577 of the Portuguese Civil Code still defines marriage as ‘a contract celebrated between two persons of different sex who plan to constitute family in full communion of life’. That is, despite marriage being no more than a simple contract, of exclusively civil nature, the fact is that civil law inexplicably still restricts and limits its celebration to same sex persons. But, in the meantime, article 13 of the Portuguese Constitution establishes in a perfectly clear manner the principle of equality amongst citizens, and the absolute restriction of any kind of distinction between them:
1 – All citizens have the same social dignity and are equal before the law.
2 – No one can be privileged, favoured, hindered, deprived in any way of any right or freed from any duty because of ascendancy, sex, race, language, territory of origin, religion, political or ideological convictions, learning, economic situation, social condition or sexual orientation.
Well then, there can only be one conclusion:
The expression ‘different sex’ in the body of article 1577 of the Civil code is, absolutely and unequivocally unconstitutional.

And why not l of us being present to wish them good luck?