Tag Archives: South America

The local Catholic Church is very unhappy. The Associated Press reports: In a historic decision, Colombia’s constitutional court opened the door Wednesday for same-sex couples to legally adopt children in the conservative South American nation. In the 6-2 ruling, the court said adoption agencies can’t discriminate against gay, lesbian and transsexual couples during an adoption process. Colombia’s Roman Catholic Church …

After an investigation lasting several weeks, Peruvian police have raided a gay strip club which they claim was operating as a “clandestine brothel” in which the owners took a cut from go-go boys hired for sex by VIP card-holding patrons. Spanish-language news reports say that Club Casanova, located in the Lima suburb of Brena, held 60 customers at the time …

US Ambassador Mike Hammer celebrated on Twitter this morning as Chile’s civil unions law goes into effect today. The BBC reports: In Chile, a new law comes into force on Thursday which will make it easier for unmarried co-habiting couples to co-own property and make medical decisions. The law will apply to both heterosexual and same-sex couples. Government spokesman Marcelo …

A special committee called by Brazilian Chamber of Deputies President Eduardo Cunha has approved a statute that defines a family as a being headed by a man and a woman. The statute is seen as the first move in an attempt to roll back same-sex marriage rights. World Crunch reports: Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo reports that the text was …

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed: Colombia’s top court held a day-long hearing on Thursday on whether it should interpret its constitution as giving marriage rights to same-sex couples — framing the debate in a wider discussion about whether international standards now dictate that marriage equality is a fundamental right. The hearing comes five weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court …

Pink News reports: Gay couples flocked to civil registry offices in Chile to schedule the first same-sex civil unions since they were approved in the country earlier this year. Thursday (July 9) was the first day that couples could apply for the licence, after a bill approving same-sex civil unions was signed by the country’s President Michelle Bachelet back in …

Pope Francis will hold his first-ever meeting with a married gay activist during a visit to Paraguay next month. The activist is Simón Cazal, executive director of the Paraguayan LGBT rights group SOMOSGAY, who married another SOMOSGAY activist, Sergio López, in neighboring Argentina in 2012. Though the pope has reportedly held pastoral meetings with some LGBT people, this meeting marks …

An estimated crowd of more than 50,000 turned out yesterday in Santiago for a march in support of marriage equality in Chile.  The march, organised by by the Movement of Integration and Sexual Liberation (MOVILH) and the Movement for Sexual Diversity (Mums), ended at the presidential palace of La Moneda, with speeches from various activists and political leaders. ​The demonstrators …

Colombian Interior Minister Juan Cristo yesterday vowed to soon make same-sex marriage legal. Via Gay Star News: “The government supports the fight for equality and we will adopt measures providing equal marriage rights for all,” Cristo said at the Andes University in Bogota on Thursday, as reported by Efe. He said he would not submit to the mercy of the …

Thousands of Peruvians rallied in Lima’s Plaza San Martin on Saturday following last week’s rejection of a civil unions bill by the national legislature. (Via Andres Duque)

Translation: “Civil unions: rejected. It’s a shame to see how homophobia takes power in Congress. Let’s show our outrage on the streets! Everyone to Plaza San Martin now!”

Just last month the Chilean Congress issued its final approval for civil unions. And yesterday the government reached an agreement to formally drop its opposition to a pending same-sex marriage lawsuit. Michael Lavers reports at the Washington Blade: Members of President Michelle Bachelet’s administration on Tuesday met with representatives of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, an LGBT advocacy …

Via the Washington Blade: A bill that would allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions in Chile on Wednesday received final approval in the South American country’s Congress. The Chilean Senate approved the measure by a 25-6 vote margin with three abstentions. The bill passed in the country’s House of Representatives by a 78-9 vote margin. “A historic step …

Last night Chile’s Chamber of Deputies overwhelmingly approved a civil unions bill with a vote of 86-23.  Two weeks ago the Chilean Senate approved the bill with a 28-6 vote after which anti-gay protesters had to be forcibly ejected from the gallery. The bill must now return to the Senate for another vote as the Deputies last night approved an …

A multi-party coalition of Chilean lawmakers say they plan to introduce a same-sex marriage bill next week. Via Gay Star News: The MPs, from the Christian Democrats, Socialist Party, Party for Democracy and Amplitude movement, say they expect the bill to go to the Congress on Wednesday or Thursday and hope that the Government of Michelle Bachelet will back the …

Progress in Colombia: The Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that a lesbian woman,could adopt her long-time partner’s daughter, since the child in question was the biological child of one of the two partners. The court said Ana Leiderman, who underwent artificial insemination to conceive her daughter, and raised her with Veronica Botero, had the right to request an adoption by …

Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa has announced that LGBT citizens will be able to register their relationships with the federal government. “The LGBT community have the constitutional right to register on their union,” Correa said during his weekly report. Previously, the Ecuadoran Civil Registry did not recognize these unions because they had no legal status according to law, however Correa said …

“Marriage between homosexuals to me is perfectly acceptable and what’s more I am defending unions that exist between two people of the same sex with the rights and all of the same privileges that this union should receive. If these unions are called marriage or not is secondary to me. For me it is important that they have their rights. …

Jeremy Hooper reports for GLAAD: The sad trend of American anti-LGBT activists traveling across the globe in order to “warn” them from making the pro-LGBT “mistakes” of America continues. The latest example comes from Peru, where vehemently anti-LGBT activist Michael Brown recently spoke to local members of congress, as well as passed out copies of his propaganda book, A Queer …

In its first session of 2014, yesterday the Chilean Senate advanced its civil unions bill. The Santiago Times reports: Senators voted in favor of the Life Partner Agreement (AVP) late Tuesday evening with 28 votes in favor, six against and two abstentions. The bill will now pass to a constitutional assembly before returning to Congress on Jan. 20. The country’s …