Sebastián Piñera announced that he will support the equal marriage project in Chile

The President of Chile, the Conservative Sebastián Piñera said on Tuesday that “the time has come” to approve equal marriage in the country and that it will be given “an urgent character” a a bill under discussion since 2017 in Parliament.

“Today I think we must deepen the freedom to love and to form family with the loved one. I think that the time has come of equal marriage in our country, ”the president said in his last speech to Congress.

“In this way, all people, regardless of sexual orientation, will be able to experience love and start a family, with all the protection and dignity they need and deserve“, added the president.

Piñera’s announcement is published during the first day of LGBTQ Pride Month commemoration, celebrated around the world, and in which a series of activities and events are traditionally organized to raise awareness of values ​​such as tolerance, freedom and respect.

Same-sex marriage has become in recent years one of the biggest struggles of LGTBI groups in Chile, where homosexuals can only unite since 2015 under the legal figure of civil union, similar to domestic partnership.

Chilean media published in October 2020 that Piñera had asked to reopen the discussion on the project which is in Congress, which he had so far refused to promote.

The marriage equality initiative, which was so far in its first legislative process and without urgency, has been an issue that has complicated the administration of Pinera more than once, given the division that this issue generates in the center-right.

The president, a billionaire businessman who came to power in March 2018 for a second non-consecutive term, is cAtolic and rules with a coalition of four right-wing and center-right parties, in which there are leaders who oppose equal marriage.

The same Executive had manifested in on several occasions contrary to the progress of the measure, arguing that it is not part of the government program.

Reactions

The homosexual liberation movement (Movilh) describes as “a historic and definitive turnaround for the right” that President Piñera has spoken out in favor of equal marriage.

“We are in the presence of a milestone for the political right, of a historical fact which runs the stigmas and the barriers of inequality and prejudices which have contaminated the most homo / transphobic sectors of the country ”, declared the organization, quoted by the local media.

“Piñera arrived late, very late, with international commitments not respected between the two. But it finally happened. We hope that other opponents of equality will follow this path ”, said its spokesperson, Oscar Rementería.

Meanwhile, from the Fundación Iguales, they described the event as a “Unexpected turning point” and added that it is “the duty” of the Executive and “to comply with what has been announced and to favor diversity”.

Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in around 20 countries, including seven in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay, Ecuador and Costa Rica.

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