Image by Alice Nerr via ShutterStock- Colombia officially recognizes same-sex marriage
- It is the fourth Latin American nation to do so and joins a handful of nations globally
- Equal marriage advocates cited equality guaranteed by the country’s constitution
Colombia officially became the fourth Latin American country to recognize same-sex marriage.
In a 6-3 ruling, the country’s Constitutional Court declared that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.
“The judges affirmed by a majority that marriage between people of the same sex does not violate constitutional order. The current definition of the institution of marriage in civil law applies to them in the same way as it does for couples of the same sex,” presiding Judge Maria Victoria Calle said, as previously quoted by ABC.
Before the ruling was handed out, gay couples in Colombia were allowed to formalize their unions before notaries and judges, but was considered as an issue in a legal gray area, whereby some officials in this majority Catholic nation are refusing to register same-sex marriage.
Opponents cite the lack of legislation granting equal marriage rights in law.
However, activists and supporters of equal marriage rights fought back all the way to the Constitutional Court; citing the constitutional guarantee of equality and thus giving gay couples the legal right to marry, just like heterosexual couples.
“All people are free to choose independently to start a family in keeping with their sexual orientation… receiving equal treatment under the constitution and the law,” the judges affirmed.
In addition, the new ruling ordered that the approximately 70 same-sex unions in Colombia that have been registered only as civil partnerships, will now be automatically recognized as full marriages.
With this new development, Colombia joins Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay in formally recognizing the rights of same-sex couples to marry. Another Latin American nation, Mexico, grants recognition of same-sex couples in certain jurisdictions.
Argentina was the first country to allow for same-sex marriage in 2010. Brazil and Uruguay followed suit in 2013.
Other countries that recognize same-sex marriage include: Belgium, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
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