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The ceremony was held in the government palace of La Moneda together with LGTBI activists, representatives of civil society, legislators and public officials.
This Thursday, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera promulgated the law that allows same-sex couples to marry and adopt minors, just days after it was approved in Congress in a historic vote.
“With the same-sex marriage bill that we are signing today, all couples who wish to do so, regardless of their sexual orientation, will be able to live their love, marry and create families with all the dignity and legal protection that, without a doubt, , they need and deserve. ” Sebastián Piñera, President of Chile, spoke to the media.
Today we strongly reaffirm that #Love is love ❤️ What is the law of #Equality marriage? Learn here the main aspects of the law that allows us to advance in the recognition of all families, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity👨👨👧👩👩👦👦🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/MBdJexI6vn
– Government of Chile (@GobiernodeChile) December 9, 2021
The activists who attended the ceremony assured that the measure will help hundreds of children and adolescents who have not been able to have legal protection from both parents.
“This law brings us closer to civil society as equals. Now we are all equal before the law. It is something for which we have been fighting for a long time and it is something very simple. We are very proud that this is progressing and that we are recognized as equals “. Said Hermann Heim, an activist for LGTBI rights, who also added that as a group they wanted “the State to stop discriminating against us as couples, as families. In particular, stop discriminating against our children, because that is important to us. “
A historic law for Chile
Legislators approved the law on Tuesday, December 7, in a milestone for the conservative South American nation, after nearly a decade of first introducing the bill to Congress by former President Michelle Bachelet.
And now, Piñera’s signing comes a little less than six months after the conservative leader gave a surprise message to the nation, in which he affirmed that he would speed up the initiative that had been stalled in Congress for several years.
Without the blessing of the Chilean president, the law could have continued in an uncertain future, in addition, a new congress would have awaited it, which begins functions in March with much more conservative ideas than the outgoing legislature.
In the long run up to the present, the first approach that Chile had in the matter of LGTBI rights was the decriminalization of consensual sexual relations between adults of the same sex in 1999.
13 years later, in 2012, arbitrary discrimination was banned.
In 2015, the left-wing president, Michelle Bachelet signed a law that allowed civil unions between homosexuals.
But it was not until 2017, that Bachelet herself presented the bill to allow same-sex marriages, which would be stalled in the National Congress due to lack of prioritization by legislators.
This is how December 7 and 9, 2021 become two historic days for the Chilean country, with the approval of the law in Congress and its promulgation by Sebastián Piñera respectively.
The Chilean Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement said it recently surveyed 1,878 same-sex couples and nearly 83% said they planned to marry after the law took effect in late March.
With AP and EFE
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