Columbia Legalises Gay Marriage
Same-sex couples kiss during a protest by the LGBT community at the Bolivar Square, Colombia[/caption]
Same sex marriage has now been legalized in Columbia.
The country’s constitutional court on Thursday gave the ruling to legalise same-sex marriage, making the catholic country the fourth Latin American to do so, after Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay. Argentina was the first to take the step in July 2010.
The decision is a milestone in the traditionally Catholic country.
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Before now, gay couples were already allowed to form civil partnerships, but Thursday’s ruling extends them the same marriage rights as heterosexual couples.
“The judges affirmed by a majority that marriage between people of the same sex does not violate constitutional order,” presiding Judge Maria Victoria Calle told the court.
“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.”
Earlier this month, the constitutional court dismissed a petition against equal marriage rights for heterosexual and homosexual couples.
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The decision is set to be recorded as an irrevocable constitutional ruling within a month
