Chile’s Senate approved equal marriage, which still has to go through deputies

The Senate of Chile on Wednesday approved the bill on marriage equality, to allow same-sex couples to have the same rights as heterosexuals, and now he is going to the Chamber of Deputies for his second legislative process.

Parliamentarians approved the initiative – with 28 votes in favor, 14 against and no abstentions – and managed to move forward in the first legislative process since the project entered parliament in 2017.

“This is not a left or right issue, it is no one’s ideological hobbyhorse, it has to do with the dignity and human rights of childrenSaid Rolando Jiménez, activist of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh).

The regulations were presented during Michelle Bachelet’s second government (2014-2018) and on June 1, during his annual public account, President Sebastián Piñera surprisingly announced that he was going to ask Congress for their urgent treatment., to unblock the project which had been dormant for years because of the opposition of pro-government parliamentarians.

“We want to move forward towards a country which plays with other values, which advances in justice and in the eradication of all forms of discrimination”, affirmed the president of the upper chamber, the senator of Christian Democracy, Yasna Provoste , who voted in favor of the project. .

The vote was delayed by two days after debates among lawmakers in favor of the project, which aims to equalize rights in Chile, and conservatives who argued that the institution of marriage could not be applied to same-sex couples.

“Marriage in its essence is the union between a man and a woman with the possibility of procreating, while homosexual relations have a different category, because they do not have this possibility of procreating,” said Senator du Manuel. national official renovation. José Ossandón, who voted against.

For Isabel Amor, Executive Director of Fundación Iguales, equal marriage “makes Chile more worthy” and protects children of same-sex couples “as appropriate”.

The bill states that the marriage law, currently focused only on heterosexual couples, is extended to same-sex couples and that they enjoy the same rights as heterosexuals, including adoption and parental filiation of children.

Since 2015, a civil union agreement has been in force in Chile, which has approved most marriage rights, except the possibility of adoption, for same-sex couples.

According to a recent Ipsos poll, 65% of Chileans think same-sex marriage should be allowed, which places Chile as the second Latin American country with the highest support, behind Argentina (73%).

“It takes a lot for institutions to change. In fact, society has changed much faster than institutions, ”said Alejandro Guillier, former presidential candidate and independent senator.

(With information from EFE and AFP)

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