With pride month mere days away, Costa Rica has become the first nation in Central America to recognize same-sex marriages.
The move comes after almost two years of infighting, following a landmark court ruling that pushed for legislators to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The constitutional court ruled in 2018 that a standing ban on same-sex marriages was unconstitutional, and ordered the parliament to re-legislate the issue within 18 months. When parliament failed to do so, marriage equality became the law of the land.
Related: Costa Rica Accidentally Approves Gay Marriage, President Supported
“Today we celebrate freedom, equality and democratic institutions. May empathy and love be the compass that allows us to get ahead and build a country where all the people fit,” Costa Rican President Carlos Quesada said via Twitter.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Costa Rica oficialmente reconoce el matrimonio igualitario. Hoy celebramos la libertad, la igualdad y las instituciones democráticas. Que sean la empatía y el amor la brújula que nos permita salir adelante y construir un país donde quepamos todas las personas ??????
— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) May 26, 2020
Daritza Araya and Alexandra Qu Castillo, a lesbian couple, married just moments after the new law took effect at midnight May 26. The pair married in San Isidro de Heredia. Other marriage ceremonies have moved online as a result of the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
Kangol2
Felicidades y gracias, Costa Rica! This is wonderful news!
erinrpierce75
Spend more time with your family & relative by doing jobs that only require for you to have a computer and an internet access and you can have that at your home…? 6.gp/a74e3
James
wonderful congratulations !!!!!!
Sister Bertha Bedderthanyu
Sounds like they had some serious human rights abuse issues they needed to sweep under the rug and this was the best way to put them there. Believe it or not Costa Rica has a huge black population that media cameras seem to never capture and I’ll bet if I’m right those abuses would have involved them.
john.k
Costa Rica does not have a huge black population. Just over 1% of its approximately 5 million population is black – that’s about 50,000. The country is a stable democracy and has been for a long time.. It is not known for human rights abuses – quite the opposite. It is a beacon in a troubled region.
Kangol2
Actually, @JohnK, according to the UN, the Black/Afrodescendent population of Costa Rica is considerably higher, at about 7% or 390,000+ people (mixed-race with African descent & of mostly African descent) To echo you, though, I’m not sure where Sister Bertha gets her facts, but yes, Costa Rica is one of the most stable countries in the Americas or across the globe, and did not have human rights abuses against Black residents. In the last election, the progressive party candidate defeated an evangelical right winger, and now Costa Rica actually hasa Black woman as one its Vice Presidents (they have 2, I think). She’s the 2nd Black woman to serve as VP in all of Latin America, I think.