BBC Learning English
Words in the News
Croatia voters back same-sex
marriage ban in referendum
2 December 2013
_____________________________________________________
Croatian voters have backed proposals to ban same-sex marriages in a
referendum. Two-thirds of those who voted approved proposals to change
Croatia's constitution to define marriage as 'a union between a man and a
woman'. Guy Delauney reports for the BBC:
Government proposals to formalise rights for same-sex couples prompted the
petition. Around three-quarters of a million people signed it  out of a total
population of just over 4 million. The Catholic Church is a key part of Croat
identity  and many people are socially conservative.
The referendum is an enormous embarrassment for Croatia s government. It
tried  and failed  to block the vote through the courts.
Success is a relative concept. Croatia appeared to be moving in a different
direction to other western Balkan countries when it joined the EU in July. Now,
like its neighbours, Serbia and Montenegro, it has a constitutional ban on
same-sex marriage.
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
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bbclearningenglish.com
Vocabulary and definitions
formalise make official
petition a document signed by many people that asks someone
in authority to do something
key part (here) a very important part
socially conservative (here) people who are traditional and who do not like
change
embarrassment feeling of being ashamed by what it (the government)
has done or what has happened to it
to block to stop
a relative concept an idea that can mean different things to different
people
a constitutional ban a law which people of a country must follow that
officially says they cannot do something
Read and listen to the story and the vocabulary online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2013/12/131202_witn_croatia_vote.shtml
Related story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25180549
Words in the News © British Broadcasting Corporation 2013
Page 2 of 2
bbclearningenglish.com