Located between the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, Costa Rica becomes the first country in Central America to legalize gay marriage. A breakthrough that needs to be highlighted.
It is a judgment that many have been waiting for. The Supreme Court now authorizes marriage for all in Costa Rica. This Tuesday, May 26, it becomes the first country in Central America to legalize love between people of the same sex.
News that caused a stir. Public television and social media announced this legalization by broadcasting a special program with historical reminders on the fight against sexual discrimination and messages from personalities from around the world gathered at the initiative of the Sí Acepto Costa Rica campaign.
As AFP announced, couples so happy with this historic event, we can say, had organized themselves to get married from the first minutes of the entry into force of the measure that makes Costa Rica the eighth country of the American continent to legalize marriage for all, the first in Central America and the 29th in the world.
"This change is bringing about a significant social and cultural transformation that will allow thousands of people to legally marry," President Carlos Alvarado Quesada commented on television.
In the very near past, August 2018, the Supreme Court of Costa Rica declared the prohibition of same-sex marriage in the Family Code unconstitutional. The latter had given to Parliament, where many conservative evangelical Christians sit, 18 months to change the law and provided that the ban would otherwise fall automatically after this period, which was the case at midnight Monday.
On January 9, 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH Court), an institution emanating from the Organization of American States (OAS), urged the countries of the region to modify their legislation to recognize marriage between spouses of the same sex, marking a major development in Latin America.
In a tweet, the international organization ILGA (International lesbian and gay association) which defends lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people, welcomed this victory: “We are delighted with you: congratulations to all those worked so hard to make it happen! ”.
For his part, the president of the country, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, expressed himself in these words on his Twitter: "Costa Rica will recognize marriage equality. In a few hours, same-sex couples and their families will have the same rights than any other couple or family in the country. Together, under the same flag, let's build a better nation. "
American lawyer Evan Wolfson, activist for marriage for all and founder in 2003 of the organization Freedom to Marry, said his joy in the special program: “Congratulations to Costa Rica, the eyes of the world are turned towards you ”.