Lesbian couple weds in Portugal's 1st gay marriage

The first gay couple to get married in Portugal signals a change in the mainly catholic nation.

The couple got married in a registry office after a law was passed allowing same sex marriages in the country. Teresa Pires and Helena Paixao, divorced Portuguese mothers in their 30s who have been together since 2003, married in a 15-minute ceremony at a Lisbon government office.

This marriage had come less than a month after the conservative President ratified the marriage law that was passed by Parliament all the way back in January.

This makes Portugal the 6th nation in Europe to have allowed the same sex marriage law in their nation.

The mainly ultra conservative county is trying to bring it people into the modernized world. Seeing as how the rest of the world is becoming more progressive and liberal on actions such as same sex marriage Portugal wanted to jump on the band wagon and bring its country out of the ways of old thinking.

It was illegal to be a homosexual in Portugal up until 1980, when they took away the law to bring about a more understanding society.

The Catholic church has played a very strong role in the politics of the nation, but despite their criticism's Portugal three years ago even lifted its ban on abortion.

This passing of the new same sex law is a major step towards bringing a once narrow sighted nation into developing a more broad scope.