ISRAEL'S Eurovision Song Contest winner Dana International – whose real name is Sharon Cohen – says Spain is 'a perfect example' to the world in 'its treatment of gay people'.
Dana, who won the 1988 contest with the catchy number Diva – and took part with the same tune in 2011 – performed yesterday (Saturday) at Madrid's Puerta de Alcalá archway as part of the annual Pride festival.
But she does not like the term 'Gay Pride', because it insinuates 'there is something to otherwise be ashamed of' – which is, in fact, still the case in many countries, even in Europe, she points out.“There's still a lot of work to be done for equal rights for homosexuals, especially in countries in the east, but Spain is a perfect example of how countries should treat gay people,” Dana stresses.
“So-called 'gay rights' are simply 'human rights', nothing more; being gay isn't something to be proud of or ashamed of, it's simply who we are, and how we were created.”
She says she has seen gay couples acting 'completely normally' out in public in Benidorm (Alicante province), Sitges (Barcelona province) and Las Palmas (Gran Canaria), where, the singer adds, 'nobody cares' and 'everyone feels safe'.
Spain is statistically one of the world's safest countries for bisexual and homosexual residents or visitors, whether they are single or in a couple, and has long been hailed as one of the most accepting on the planet.
The fourth country in the world to legalise marriage between same-sex couples on exactly the same footing as mixed-sex couples – something it took until 2014 for the UK to do - and adoption of children, Spain changed the law in spring 2005 after a year of having announced it planned to do so, pipping Canada at the post and only beaten by Belgium and The Netherlands.
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