Slovakia to decide on restrictions of gay rights in weekend voting
Slovakias antigay-marriage movement has had massive support from the Catholic Church and Francis last week even gave his blessing to the referendum in an address on St. Peters Square. A conservative group, the Alliance for Family, forced the Slovakian vote by gathering more than 400,000 signatures, well above the required 350,000.
Anna Veresova, a leader of the alliance, called moves to redefine marriage and family in Western Europe and the United States nonsensical.
She said it is precisely because conservatives feel threatened by the West that the movement felt the need to act. We can hardly say that Slovakia is an isolated island in the middle of an ocean that cant be affected, Veresova said. Thats not true.
Some 10,000 volunteers, from students to pensioners, have spread the alliances message across the country after TV networks including the nations public television network refused to air its campaign ads ridiculing the adoption of a child by a gay couple.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/world/2015/02/08/value-clash-with-west-slovakia-votes-gay-rights-curb/DK31cpRLZQ1SyWNhm9yK2L/story.html
Follow up: The poll was back by more than 90 per cent of voters but failed to be legally binding as the turnout did not reach 50 per cent.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/referendum-to-entrench-gay-marriage-ban-in-slovakia-overwhelmingly-supported-but-fails-due-to-low-turnout-10031769.html