Czech members of parliament began discussing a bill on Thursday that would allow marriage between gay couples, putting the Czech Republic on the brink of being the 17th country in Europe to do so.
While politicians discussed the bill inside parliament, outside on the street was the Aliance pro rodinu (Alliance For the Family) demonstrating in opposition to the bill. According to Jana Jochová, president of the organization, gay marriage will “open a Pandora’s box,” turning children into commodities and create an industry for child trafficking.
“The state must not end the institution of marriage as we know it. The state must not allow child trafficking and support the rental of uteruses and the selling of embryos from economically weak countries,” she said.
“Surely we already know that a man and a woman are needed to have a child, and that so-called two dads or two mothers are biologically impossible.”
“We are bothered by the whole amendment, because the so-called ‘marriage for all,’ and homosexual marriage brings a number of negative phenomena in society. We are watching it abroad, so we know all the things that will follow.”
The activist group’s website says that their goal is to “Achieve social, cultural, social and legislative support and respect for the family based on the marriage of men and women, which form the basic foundation of society and on which the well-being of individuals, families, children, seniors depends, as well as the overall prosperity of society and its future.”
Critics of the group however, have blamed the rhetoric from Jochová and similar organizations for the high suicide rate of the LGBT community.
The new bill is being supported by 46 members of parliament. Lucia Zachariášová, a lawyer from the “We Are Fair” initiative that supports the bill, told CNN Prima NEWS that she “can’t imagine how our family would be endangered if two of our neighbors can get married. I definitely don’t understand in what specific way the threat should take place.”
“We can mention the purely practical aspects, which I think may be a reason that many people should be able to get married. For example, the joint property of spouses or preferential marital loans. Gays and lesbians in a registered partnership cannot have this.”
Gay marriage is legal in 29 countries around the world, 16 of which are in Europe.
