Portugal, one of the most advanced nations in the world when it comes to LGBT rights, took another step forward today with legislation allowing members of same-sex married couples to adopt a spouse's children.
Parliament approved the measure by a vote of 99-94, with nine abstentions, the Portuguese American Journal reports. It allows one spouse the right to adopt the other's biological or adopted children. However, another proposal, which would have let same-sex couples adopt jointly, was defeated.
Portugal criminalized homosexuality as recently as 1982, but it has come far since then, being one of the few countries in the world with a constitution that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation. It has had marriage equality since 2010.