ZNet

Earlier this year, Spain passed a law that will allow transsexuals to change their name and gender without undergoing gender reassignment surgery.

"We have to defend our rights as gays, and from Spain we are going to proclaim loudly that these rights can be achieved everywhere in Europe," said Antonio Poveda, 39, president of the FELGBT, Spain's Lesbian, Gay, Transsexual and Bisexual Federation, who singled out Poland and Russia as two European countries that persecute homosexuals.