Ecuador’s Marriage Equality Ruling

Ecuador’s Marriage Equality Ruling

Ecuador’s government has reached a decision to allow same-sex marriage marking the 50th anniversary of the gay equality movement. 

 Five of nine judges in Ecuador’s top court on Wednesday ruled in favor of two gay couples who sued after their request to be married was denied by the country’s civil registry and is the 27th country to allow same-sex marriage with the move coming during the annual gay Pride month.

In 1998, Ecuador became one of the first countries in the world to constitutionally ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since 2008, civil unions with all of the rights of marriage (except for adoption) have been available to same-sex couples. Additionally, transgender people under the 2016 Gender Identity Law may change their legal gender solely based on self-determination, without undergoing surgery. Ecuador is also one of the few countries in the world to have banned conversion therapy.

“Whenever there’s progress, there’s always steps backwards,” said Neela Ghoshal, senior researcher in the LGBT rights program at Human Rights Watch.

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