Chile has become the eighth Latin American country to legalize equal marriage
El Chilean Congress has approved this Tuesday a historic bill that allows people of the same sex to marry, an initiative that began to be reviewed more than four years ago and that is one of the great wishes of the group LGTBI the country.
The initiative was approved in the Lower House by 82 votes in favor, 20 against and 2 abstentions in a memorable session that ended in applause, and hours before it had been approved in the Upper House, where it had received the support of 21 senators , 8 votes against and 3 abstentions. Hours earlier, the Upper House had given the go-ahead with the support of 21 senators, 8 against and 3 abstentions.
The Government Spokesperson, Jaime Belloli has celebrated the result: «Today is a happy day for Chile. We advance in the recognition of all and in embracing diversity«.
Chile thus becomes the eighth country of Latin America in legalizing same-sex marriage after Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Ecuador, Costa Rica and various states of Mexico.
Adoption and filiation
The norm allows marriages to be called unions between persons of the same sex and also enables the adoption and parentage of children to both parents, one of the key points of the discussion. The left-wing deputy Gonzalo winter, from Frente Amplio has been satisfied with the approval of the law and has declared in this regard: «How nice to see how Chilean citizens are freer. For the freedom to marry whoever you want, without anyone imposing on you what love is or how a family should be«.
The decision was celebrated by the organizations LGTBI of the country, which have been urging parliamentary proceedings for weeks and that this Tuesday they called a celebration in the central Plaza Italia of Santiago. "This is a historic step. We finally end structural inequalities and dignify people of sexual and gender diversity«Ramón Gómez, in charge of Human Rights of the Movement of Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movil).
For his part, the right-wing senator Rodrigo Galilea (National Renewal) explained the progress involved in the approval of the initiative for the Chile: "Stop judging marriage between couples of the same sex as bad or suspicious is a fundamental cultural change that the country must make«, Has sentenced.
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The equal marriage project was presented in 2017 thanks to the impulse of the former socialist president Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018) and was stagnant for almost four years. Last July, in a surprising twist, the current president, the right-wing Sebastian Piñera, said there was «the time has come»To approve the initiative and instructed Parliament to debate it urgently. The announcement fell like a jug of cold water among the most conservative sectors of the right, who last week voted against it and prolonged the discussion for another seven days.
Until now and since 2015, homosexual people only had the legal figure of the Civil Union Agreement (AUC), which does not recognize filiative rights.
