LOVE TAKES OVER

Colombian Judge Legally Recognizes Country’s First Same-Sex Couple

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERASame-sex marriage may already be a reality in Colombia, following the first legal recognition of a same-sex relationship in Bogota last month.

After being petitioned by a same-sex couple—known simply as Diego and Juan—civil judge Carmen Lucia Rodriguez Diaz issued a five-page ruling that “defended the violability of marriage for gay couples,” and approved the couple’s upcoming wedding ceremony provided there will be witnesses present.

The ruling has confused many, given the Colombian Senate’s overwhelming rejection of a bill that would have legalized same-sex marriage in April.

But two years prior, on June 20th, 2011, the Colombian Constitutional Court preemptively legalized same-sex marriage by ruling that the country’s lawmakers had two years to extend legal marriage benefits to same-sex couples. The Court’s deadline passed last month, leaving many to wonder exactly what the law is. Technically, the 2011 ruling did not include the word “marriage.”

Diego and Juan are still planning to get hitched in Colombia on July 24.

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