Ecuador’s highest court approves same-sex marriage – sparking huge celebrations among the Catholic country’s gay community
- After the ruling, people celebrated wildly in Quito and in the port city Guayaquil
- Constitutional Court said the ruling came in a five-to-four vote of its nine judges
- Ecuador is a traditionally Catholic country, where the Church is very influential
People took to the streets of Ecuador to celebrate after the South American country’s highest court approved same-sex marriage.
LGBT and human rights activists erupted in celebration in Quito and the port city of Guayaquil, waving the rainbow flags that symbolize the gay rights movement.
It is a landmark ruling in a country that is traditionally Catholic and conservative and Ecuador, where the church is very influential, joins Argentina, Brazil and Colombia in recognizing same-sex marriage.
The Constitutional Court said the ruling came in a five-to-four vote of its nine judges in a closed door hearing.
A couple in Guayaquil celebrate with a kiss after Ecuador’s Constitutional Court approved same-sex marriage
Photos of same-sex couples kissing and activists cheering in the aftermath of the ruling were shared online.
Lawyer Christian Paula of the Patka Foundation, which provides legal advice for around 10 same-sex couples seeking to marry in the country, said: ‘It means that Ecuador is more egalitarian.
‘It recognizes that human rights must be for all people without discrimination.’
The four dissenting judges argued that in order to recognize same-sex marriage, constitutional reform would have to be debated in the National Assembly.
Photos of same-sex couples kissing and activists cheering in the aftermath of the ruling were shared online
Ecuador’s highest court on Wednesday approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the traditionally Catholic and conservative South American country
The Constitutional Court said the ruling came in a five-to-four vote of its nine judges in a closed door hearing
Gustavo Medina, a former Supreme Court president, said that Ecuadoran authorities were obliged to abide by decisions of the Constitutional Court, which were ‘binding and mandatory.’
Ecuador has recognized civil unions for same-sex couples since 2015 but has now approved same-sex marriage after the Constitutional Court ruled on lawsuits by two male couples who wanted to wed.
The men in one of those couples are named Efrain Soria and Javier Benalcazar.
‘I want to say hello to Javier, who is in Guayaquil. Honey, I love you,’ Soria told reporters in the capital Quito.
He urged other gay people to stop hiding and ‘enjoy the happiness that comes from being equal, like anyone else.’
Ecuador approved same-sex marriage after the Constitutional Court ruled on lawsuits by two male couples who wanted to wed
Ecuador’s current constitution defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman
In downtown Quito, two women who have been fighting since 2013 for the right to marry staged a symbolic wedding right after the court decision was announced
Ecuador’s current constitution defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.
The charter, ratified in 2008, also bars same-sex couples from adopting children.
But the judges that approved same-sex marriage said they based their decision on the idea that all people are equal.
They also said they sought to counter any kind of discrimination.
In Foch Plaza in downtown Quito, two women who have been fighting since 2013 for the right to marry staged a symbolic wedding right after the court decision was announced.
Pamela Troya and Gabriela Correa sat formally in chairs for the ceremony and when Troya was asked the big question, she said: ‘Today, I say yes. A big yes. A giant yes. I want to be your wife’
The judges that approved same-sex marriage said they based their decision on the idea that all people are equal
Pamela Troya and Gabriela Correa sat formally in chairs for the ceremony and when Troya was asked the big question, she said: ‘Today, I say yes. A big yes. A giant yes. I want to be your wife.’
Others in the crowd shouted in approval, hugged and kissed.
Troya later told reporters the fight for same sex marriage in Ecuador had been long and hard, and at times she thought it was a lost cause.
‘Finally, today is an historic day for Ecuador because it is a little more fair and egalitarian,’ she said.
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