Chile’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a law that will legalise same-sex couples getting married and adopting children.
On 7 December, both Chile’s Senate and lower house of parliament voted heavily in favour of the bill.
It was partially approved in November before the Senate had to return it for ambiguities to be clarified.
The law has been stalled by Congress since 2017, with same-sex couples being allowed to enter into a civil union since 2015.
“Today is a historic day, our country has approved same-sex marriage, one more step forward in terms of justice, in terms of equality, recognising that love is love,” said Minister of Social Development Karla Rubilar after the vote.
Shortly after its passage to the Senate, the bill was passed in the lower house of parliament by 82 votes to 20 with two abstentions.
It will now be down to current President Sebastian Piñera, who is leaving office in March, to sign it into law – though this is expected to face no obstacles as he has backed the bill.
“It is hard to believe that today we are taking this step,” explained Rolando Jimenez from LGBTQ+ rights group Movilh.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Chile now joins 30 other countries where same-sex marriage is legal, including other countries in Latin America such as Colombia, Brazil and Costa Rica.
A new president is set to be elected on 19 December with the race currently between progressive Gabriel Boric and social conservative Jose Antonio Kast.
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