Gay couple first to marry as Chile marriage law takes effect
A gay couple were the first to marry in Chile in a civil ceremony after a marriage law that was passed last year went into effect in the South American country.
The couple– Javier Silva and Jaime Nazar– were married at the Civil Registry office after being together for seven years and in a civil union for three years. They have two children.
Following the gay couple, a lesbian couple– Consuelo Morales and Pabla Heuser– were married half an hour later. The couple were together for 17 years and have a young child.
A gay couple marries in Chile
Speaking to reporters after the ceremony, Silva said: “Being the first couple to get married in Chile for us is an honor, something to be proud of.”
Silva expressed elation of this honor and said they didn’t think it could happen.
He added, “Now our children have the same rights (as other families) and they will be able to have, we hope, a better future, that they will not be discriminated against for having two parents who love each other.”
President-elect Gabriel Boric, who is set to take office, tweeted: “My congratulations to Jaime and Javier for being the first couple to marry under the new #EqualMarriage law.”
“To continue advancing for a Chile with equal rights and freedoms for all people,” Boric added.
Meanwhile, Silva and Nazar met with outgoing President Sebastián Piñera on his last day in office at the Presidential Palace in Santiago after they were married.
The passage of a LGBT marriage law
Despite being a conservative nation, Chile’s Congress approved last December a law guaranteeing legal rights for same-sex couples in a milestone for the LGBTQ community and rights groups.
This legislation was first raised in 2017 and supported by former President Michelle Bachelet, but it only passed in 2021.
Previously, in 2015, same-sex couples could register a Civil Union Agreement (AUC) that allowed them some legal benefits.
The new law rolls back existing legal discrimination against same-sex couples in parentage, joint adoption, and assisted reproductive technology.
With this law, Chile joined Argentina and became the 31st nation in the world to adopt marriage equality.
The signing of the marriage law in Chile
Piñera, despite being a conservative, signed the law two days after Congress approved it.
“Today the time has come for marriage equality in our country, the time has come to deepen the values of freedom and dignity,” Piñera said
He added, “The time has come to consecrate the freedom to love and to form a family, and the time has come to give full value to the dignity of all relationships of love and affection between two people.”
Boric, who replaced Piñera after a presidential run-off also last December, had expressed support for the bill. He represents a leftist alliance that includes the Communist Party.
However, the other presidential candidate in the run-off, Jose Antonio Kast, was far-right and had campaigned against it.