Costa Rica To Begin Marriage Equality

LGBTQ civil rights in Costa Rica will move forward as marriage equality begins on Tuesday May 26th as scheduled. Though homophobic lawmakers tried to delay it from happening using COVID-19 as an excuse, the Legislative Assembly rejected their bid by a vote of 33 to 20. Enrique Sánchez of the Citizen Action Party stated, “Equal Marriage is a legal reality in our country. That will not change. The Inter-American Court & the Constitutional Chamber have made this clear.” Official Luis Guillermo Chinchilla stated, “The Civil Registry has made significant efforts in adjusting all the computer systems in civil registry matters, with the purpose of managing these registrations in a timely & expeditious manner, always within the framework of suitable & effective registry security as usual by our institution.” In August 2018 the country’s Supreme Court finally ruled that it was unconstitutional to ban gay & lesbian couples from getting married. Then in November of 2018 the Costa Rica Supreme Court justices gave the country’s Legislative Assembly 18 months to act. May 26th marks that deadline meaning the court’s ruling overrides the ban on marriage equality. Of course celebrations will be limited since the coronavirus pandemic is preventing mass gatherings but Sí Acepto Costa Rica is marking the day with a special broadcast. The invitation for the events states, ‘Decades of effort & struggle for rights reach a historic moment on May 26 when Costa Rica becomes the first country in Central America to approve civil marriage for people of the same sex.’ In neighboring South America, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador & Uruguay already have marriage equality.
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