Costa Rica becomes first Central American country to legalize gay marriage

Costa Rica became the first country in Central America to legalize gay marriage on Tuesday, when a court ruling recognized that right, although the date did not have the expected celebrations due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The entry on the law was received with an announcement on public television and social networks that reviewed the history of the fight for the rights of the sexually diverse population.

Many couples organized to get married from the first minutes of the announcement of the new right for the LGBTI population.

Costa Rica became the eighth country in the Americas to accept equal marriage, the first in Central America and the 29th in the world.

“This change will bring about a significant social and cultural transformation that will allow thousands of people to marry,” said President Carlos Alvarado in the broadcast.

The acceptance of these marriages was the result of a ruling by the constitutional chamber of the 2018 Supreme Court of Justice, which declared unconstitutional a provision of the Family Code that prohibited same-sex marriages.

In the ruling, the constitutional chamber gave the Legislative Assembly (parliament) a period of 18 months to legislate gay marriage, in case of not doing so, the provision would be annulled on May 26, as happened today.

The decision of the constitutional chamber was given in response to an advisory opinion from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which in January 2018 determined that gay couples have the same marriage rights as heterosexuals.

In the broadcast, organized by the ‘Yes I accept’ Costa Rica campaign, dozens of greetings from international personalities were presented, such as the Spanish singer Mónica Naranjo, who announced that the legal change “will cause other countries on the continent to follow it.”

“Congratulations Costa Rica, the eyes of the world are on you,” said US activist Evan Wolfson of the Freedom to Marry organization.

Mexican singer Lila Downs congratulated Costa Rica and assured that “we are progressing, humanizing ourselves with actions like this.”