COLOMBIA: Top Court Considers Marriage

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 ruled to allow marriage equality, in a move that reverberated around the world. Unlike the U.S. Supreme Court, Colombia’s Constitutional Court weighs foreign precedent and international human rights law in its decisions. To discuss the question of marriage equality in Thursday’s debate, the Court’s judges invited a broad range of international opinions, including representatives of the United Nations’ human rights office, the U.S.-based conservative legal group the Alliance Defending Freedom, and Albie Sachs, the former chief justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court who authored a 2005 marriage equality ruling.

A decision is expected by the end of the summer.

RELATED: Elsewhere in South America same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Brazil, French Guiana, and Uruguay. Civil unions are legal in Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. A same-sex marriage lawsuit is pending before the Venezuelan Supreme Court. Homosexual acts remain illegal in Guyana, but nowhere else on the continent.

COLOMBIA: Interior Minister Vows To Soon Make Same-Sex Marriage Legal

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 majority on matters related to human rights, as 'respect for equal rights is not optional'. In July 2011, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled Congress had two years to legalize same-sex marriage or an equivalent of marriage. As Congress failed to mass a marriage equality bill, the courts began approving marriages themselves. But then, the country's Inspector General requested the Court invalidate all the marriages approved in Colombia. Only 30 same-sex couples were given a license.

Cristo claims that Colombia's leading political party, the National Unity Coalition, is behind him. The party presently holds 60 out of 266 seats in the national legislature.

RELATED: In South America same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay. Civil unions or partnership laws exist in Chile*, Colombia, and Ecuador. No relationship recognitions presently exist in Bolivia, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru**, Suriname, or Venezuela. (*In April the Chilean government formally dropped its opposition to same-sex marriage. **In March the Peruvian Congress rejected a civil unions bill.)

Colombian YouTube Star Has Two Moms

Adoption by same-sex couples is presently before the courts in Colombia and this weekend local YouTube star Sebastian Villalobos, 19, who has 1.2M subscribers, revealed that he has two moms. The clip below has gone viral and already has over half a million views. The full Villalobos family appears at the 8:00 mark.

Earlier this month the Colombian Constitutional Court deadlocked on the gay adoption bill. A final decision is pending from an outside judge considered to be conservative. Last week the faculty of a major Colombian university issued a brief in which they declare homosexuality to be an illness.

La Sabana University’s faculty of medicine stated that homosexuals are “away from the common, which is somehow a disease” and suffer “an anomaly,” in a report sent to the Constitutional Court regarding an ongoing debate on gay couples’ right to adopt. “Gay and lesbian people deserve our respect as people, but it should be noted their behavior deviates from the common, which is somehow a disease,” stated university professor, Dr. Pablo Arango, in the four page report. Homosexuals “exhibit… higher rate of mental illness, suffer more often from HIV/AIDS and other STDs, with a higher rate of suicide,” and that “these same-sex couples are much more unstable” and “commit more sexual abuse,” said the report. Homosexual relationships offer a greater possibility of children displaying such “disruptive behavior as drug abuse, eating disorders, school failure, bad behavior in class and more often suffer the traumatic experiences of separation and divorce,” said the report.

COLOMBIA: Constitutional Court Grants Limited Adoption Rights To Gay Couples

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 her partner regardless of sex. The Colombian Family Well-being Institute had earlier rejected Botero's adoption application. "The court considered that the discriminatory criterion the administrative authority had used to deny the adoption procedure ... was unacceptable in this case, which involves a consensual adoption in which the biological father or mother consents to an adoption by his or her permanent partner," magistrate Luis Ernesto Vargas said. However, the ruling does not not allow gay couples to adopt if neither person is the child's biological parent, and even couples covered by the ruling will have to meet certain conditions, such as having lived together for at least two years.

Local experts hope the ruling sets the stage for expanding adoption rights to all same-sex couples. (Tipped by JMG reader Steven)

Meet Colombia's Trans Football Club

Colombian President Endorses Marriage

"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. - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos, speaking with El Tiempo. Santos faces a runoff election to hold office next month. Elsewhere in South America, same-sex marriage is presently legal in Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay.

HomoQuotable - Javier Suarez Pascagaza

"We do not see [gays] as being a family or married or an integral part of the social fabric but as needing clinical, psychiatric, medical and spiritual care, if possible, to help acknowledge their condition so that they can reverse it and recover their gender identity. I don't think God created homosexuals. That would be an evil God." - Colombia's leading anti-gay activist Javier Suarez Pascagaza, who has been outed by classmates at the seminary he once attended. As the director of Colombia's Husband & Wife Foundation, Suarez filed unsuccessful lawsuits in attempts to overturn the few same-sex marriages granted there so far. Hit the link and read the full story at Blabbeando.

COLOMBIA: Judges Declare That Two Couples Are Married, Gov't To Appeal

Blabbeando's Andres Duque reports a development in Colombia's complicated journey towards marriage equality:

In a surprising statement released on Wednesday, Colombian attorney and long-time LGBT-rights advocate Germán Humerto Rincón Perfetti announced that a civil court judge had declared Julio Albeiro Cantor Borbón and William Alberto Castro Franco "united in civil matrimony" in a ceremony that took place on September 20th. Then today the leading national newspaper El Espectador announced in its front page that Elizabeth Castillo and Claudia Zea had joined them on Wednesday when a second civil court judge also granted them a marriage license. "I join you in a legitimate civil matrimony with all the prerogatives and rights that civil law grants you and the same obligations imposed by civil law," said the judge before the couple signed their marriage license. [snip]  Yesterday the Inspector General's office announced that it would fight to stop these marriages using a fast track appeal legal form called a "tutela". Lawyer Mauricio Albarracín argues that for a "tutela" to proceed the applicant has to prove these marriages violate a person's rights which Albarracín says will be impossible for Ordoñez to prove. The issue will probably head back to the upper courts in the future but as of this week Julio Albeiro Cantor Borbon is married to William Alberto Castro Franco and Claudia Zea is married to Elizabeth Castillo.

Hit the link for a detailed explanation of the situation.

COLOMBIA: First Civil Union Performed

Colombia saw its first legal civil union yesterday. Or maybe it was a marriage. Nobody is sure.

The newly legalized couple cheered the ceremony as a marriage, although experts cautioned that a high court ruling that deemed the union legal did not make it the equivalent of marriage. "We are civilly married," Gonzalo Ruiz, 44, told The Associated Press just after ceremony with his partner, Carlos Hernando Rivera, 57.  The ceremony follows Congress' failure in April to pass a law setting up a legal framework for civil unions. A 2011 order from the Constitutional Court had ordered legislators to pass a law granting marriage equality to gay couples by June 20, 2013, or else such couple would be allowed to join in civil unions before judges. A previous ruling by the high court had allowed same-sex couples in Colombia to enjoy since 2007 many of the benefits of marriage, including inheritance, pensions and health and death benefits.

COLOMBIA: High Court Rebukes Campaign To Block Same-Sex Marriages

Colombia's Constitutional Court has told Inspector General Alejandro Ordóñez to drop his campaign to block same-sex marriages. J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

Ordoñez had been threatening disciplinary action against any official who took up this authority. His case was based on the fact that the court’s ruling did not specifically say that couples can “marry,” nor did it directly change the law. Instead, it gave congress until June 20, 2013 to change the law to give equal rights to same-sex couples. The 2011 ruling only gives the power directly to judges and notaries because congress failed to act, and ambiguity in the ruling left it unclear whether they will call these unions “marriages” or something else entirely. On Friday, the court rejected Ordoñez’s petition for it to clarify that it did not intend to open marriage to same-sex couples. And Constitutional Court President Jorge Iván Palacio sternly warned Ordoñez to “observe the determinations of this Court and monitor their strict and timely compliance.”

Feder notes that the Court has still not clarified the murky wording of their 2011 ruling. LGBT activists, however, are taking their message to Ordóñez as a very positive sign.

RELATED: Same-sex marriage is legal in the South American nations of Brazil, Uruguay, and Argentina.

Judge OK's Colombia's First Gay Marriage

Michael Lavers has more at the Washington Blade:

Caracol Radio reported that Carmen Lucía Rodríguez Díaz, a civil judge in Bogotá, the country’s capital, “defended the viability of marriage for gay couples” in a five page ruling she wrote after a couple identified as Diego and Juan petitioned her to legally recognize their relationship. The two men are expected to tie the knot in a civil marriage ceremony on July 24. Same-sex couples in Colombia on June 20 began to seek legal recognition of their relationships. The South American country’s Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled gays and lesbians could legally register their relationships within two years if the country’s lawmakers failed to extend to them the same benefits heterosexuals receive through marriage.

COLOMBIA: Deadline For Same-Sex Marriage Ruling Is This Friday

The Washington Blade notes that same-sex couples in Colombia might be able to register for marriages beginning this Friday.

The country’s Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled gays and lesbians can legally register their relationships after June 20 if lawmakers failed to extend to them the same benefits heterosexuals receive through marriage. The Colombian Senate in April overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have allowed same-sex couples to tie the knot in the South American country. Marcela Sánchez Buitrago, executive director of Colombia Diversa, an LGBT advocacy group, told the Washington Blade on Monday that some notaries have already said they will not marry same-sex couples after the court’s deadline passes. They would instead allow them to enter into a “solemn contract” that is similar to an agreement between two people who buy a house together.

Same-sex marriage is legal in the South American nations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil.

Colombian Senate Rejects Marriage

As expected, the Colombian Senate today rejected its same-sex marriage bill by a vote of 51-17. 

COLOMBIA: Bogota Mayor Unfurls Pro-Gay Banner As Senate Considers Marriage

Colombia's Senate is expected to vote down its marriage equality bill today after a debate which is scheduled to begin within the hour of this writing.  Despite that prediction, today Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro ordered the above banner to be unfurled over city hall as LGBT activists demonstrated outside. Watch the debate and vote live here.  More photos from the pro and anti-gay sides can be found on the Twitter feed of US-based activist and Colombia native Andres Duque.

UPDATE: The vote has been delayed until tomorrow due to the debate running so late.

Matt Baume: Marriage News Watch

Clip recap: "Marriage equality continues to spread, with major milestones this week that span from the Great Lakes region to the Mid-Atlantic. Plus, New Zealand becomes the 13th country to legalize the freedom to marry, and international progress continues from Colombia to Vietnam."

Colombian Senate Puts Off Marriage Vote

The Colombian Senate was expected to vote on marriage equality yesterday, but instead they approved a vote to put it off for one more week.

The Colombian Senate decides to suspend marriage equality vote until Tuesday (23 April) by a vote of 35-30. Only 65 senators attended the vote out of the Senate's 102 members. During an intense discussion that started today (17 April) at 5pm local time, the Senate unexpectedly postponed the vote on the equal marriage bill. The decision was made following a proposal of the Senator Juan Restrepo of the ruling 'U' party, who pointed out that the debate "was very important" for country’s future and that therefore it should be delayed.

(Via Gay Star News)

Colombian Senate To Vote On Marriage

The Colombian Senate will vote on same-sex marriage today.

The Colombian Consitutional Court issued a ruling in 2011 (Sentencia C577/11) that requires the Congress to act by June 20, 2013, or else same-sex couples can present themselves to legal notaries to contract for their legal rights. The Court ruled that same-sex couples have equal legal rights to found a family, but there is a “deficit of legal protection” for such couples under current law, and ordered the Congress to eliminate that deficit by June 20, 2013. The Court previously ruled that the right given to heterosexual couples to a legally recognized non-marital union must be accorded to same-sex couples.

I'll post the result of the vote later today.

Colombian Senate Cancels Marriage Debate After Protests From Gay Activists

J. Lester Feder reports at Buzzfeed:

In canceling the debate, senate president Barreras clearly placed blame on the LGBT activists. "Hooligans will not be permitted in Congress because it is the home of democracy," he said in remarks published by El Espectador. "I have decided to suspend the discussion of this debate until we meet with the leaders of this important LGBTI community and define with them the rules for participation with full guarantees, but with deep respect for those who think differently." He later announced that a meeting has been scheduled with LGBT activists for 3 p.m. Monday.

The bill's sponsor, Senator Armando Benedetti, shot back via Twitter, "If the debate on #equalmarriage is suspended, it is by order by some prosecutor [like the attorney general], cardinal, or other boss of the Senate."The Colombian congress is under order from the Constitutional Court to pass a bill guaranteeing full rights for same-sex couples by June 20. If it fails to act by that date, couples will be able to solemnize their unions in front of a notary, but more lawsuits are expected about whether these partnerships will be called "marriages.

Hit the link and read Feder's full report.

COLOMBIA: Marriage Bill Advances

Yesterday Colombia's marriage equality bill passed by a vote of 10-5 in a Senate committee.  Via Gay Star News:

The bill will now face a vote in the Colombian Senate however no date was yet set for a debate and vote. Senator Armando Benedetti, of the ruling Social Party of National Unity party said: ‘The marriage of couples of same-sex couples is a clear manifestation of respect and non-discrimination of groups that have been permanently marginalized. ‘With this initiative we seek to bridge the gap of inequality and respect the provisions of the constitution and the rulings of the constitutional court’. Last year (26 July 2011) Colombia’s constitutional court set a deadline for lawmakers to act on the issue. The court ruled that the Colombian Congress must create an equivalent of marriage for gay couples by June 20, 2013, or else couples will automatically gain the right to go to any judge or notary public to formalize their union. The vote was strongly criticized by conservative politicians.

Colombia legalized civil partnerships in 2008.

Madame Secretary Parties Down

Good for her.