Same Sex Marriage Approved by Uruguay’s Senate

Gay rights movements around the world have another reason to celebrate. On Tuesday Uruguay’s Senate has approved same sex marriage in the country. The lower house is expected to give the decree a favorable approval. It is scheduled to be vetoed or approved next week. Uruguay’s President Jose Mujica had earlier said that he was going to sign that decree into law as soon as the lower house approved it. It this pushes through, Uruguay will be the second Latin American country to allow same sex marriage. The first one was Argentina.

While the Catholic Church is critical of this decision, Uruguay is a secular country thus the church has little political influence in Uruguay. The country has been the first to legalize abortion in Latin America.

Inclusions in the decree

The bill had received a 23 to 8 vote in December when it was passed by the upper house. Lawmaker Federico Grana, who is also a member of a gay rights group the Black Sheep Collective, which presented the bill’s first draft said that this was more about everyone having the same obligations and the same rights, not just about homosexuality. It covers the marriage of homosexuals and heterosexuals. It will allow straight or gay couples to decide on whose surname their children will use. It will eliminate the terms [sic] “husband and woman” in wedding contracts. The term to be used will be [sic] “contracting parties.” The bill clarifies the rules on in-vitro fertilization and adoption. Uruguay also made a landmark liberal decision when it became the first Latin American country to legalize abortion in 2012. Earlier, in 2009, the country was also the first to allow children to be legally adopted by couples of the same sex.

The minimum age to enter the state of matrimony in Uruguay is 14 for boys and 12 for girls. The new bill, when it is enacted into law will raise the marriageable age to 16, which will affect all genders.