20 February 2008

MADRID - A Murcia judge who prevented a woman from adopting the daughter of her same-sex wife due to "ideological motives" was temporarily suspended from duty yesterday by the General Council of the Judiciary.

Judge Fernando Ferrín Calamita turned down the request by the woman, saying that children should be "part of a normal family" with "a mother and a father." The ruling went against the law passed in 2005 granting homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals in terms of adoption.

As well as the temporary suspension of Ferrín Calamita, which was voted for yesterday by the council, the judge could receive a EUR 600 fine for his "negative criticism about the homosexual condition" made during a case that saw him award the custody of two children to their father because the mother had been involved in a lesbian relationship.

[Copyright EL PAÍS / S. HUNTER 2008]

Subject: Spanish news