Costa Rica Considers Marriage Vote

Costa Rican LGBT activists are fighting an effort by the Catholic Church to force a public vote on legal recognition for same-sex relationships.

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) approved a proposal made by four lawyers, backed by 150,000 signatures -- 20,000 more than are legally required -- calling for the referendum, rather than the legislature, to determine whether to allow gay and lesbian civil unions. It set Dec. 5 as the date for the vote. The fate of the referendum is now in the hands of the constitutional chamber of the Supreme Court, which must rule on a legal challenge to the ballot, based on the principle that human rights cannot be subject to a vote. Since 2006, the single-chamber Costa Rican parliament has been discussing a civil union bill that would recognise same-sex couples. The referendum is being openly promoted by Observatorio Ciudadano, an organisation backed by the Catholic Church, in this overwhelmingly Catholic country. Human rights organisations accuse the Church leadership of religious interference in political affairs.

In recent years Costa Rica has become an increasingly popular travel destination for gay men. That is likely to end should the referendum succeed.