The Chilean Congress on Tuesday approved a long-debated bill that would allow only a handful of Catholic-majority Latin American countries to legalize same-sex marriage. Accordingly, same-sex marriage has been legalized.
Among Latin American countries, same-sex couples can still get married Only in 14 out of 32 states in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina.
The new move is backed by President Sebastian Pinera, who will continue to sign it into law. The new rules will also allow same-sex couples to adopt children.
The bill received the green light from the upper house of Congress or the Senate on Tuesday, and was immediately approved by the lower house, receiving 20 to 82 votes. With the December 19 presidential election in Chile looming, the adoption has been hastened to gain more than one faction.
The project has consistently been opposed by the most conservative faction of Chile’s ruling right, but the opposition-dominated Congress has endorsed it at every step of the process.
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