Ecuadorian court says Civil Registry must accept civil union registrations from same-sex couples

When Ecuador adopted a new constitution in September of 2008, it included recognition of civil unions for same-sex couples which were purported to extend all the rights afforded to heterosexual marriage couples. Except it didn't quite do that.

It didn't include, for example, the right for same-sex couples to adopt children or allow a same-sex couple to register as co-parents of children raised by one of the partners.

A Bristish lesbian couple living in Ecuador certainly found out the hard way and have been fighting an increasingly visible and lengthy battle to register their Ecuador-born daughter as their own ("One baby, two moms equals controversy in Ecuador", AFP, May 31, 2012).

Apparently what the 2008 constitution allowed same-sex couples to do was to go to a notary and register their partnership for the purpose of securing a number of patrimonial and inheritance rights.  Now comes word that it didn't event allow same-sex couples to register their partnership with the nation's Civil Registry which determines, among other things, the number of married and divorced heterosexual couples in the country or those engaged in a civil union. It also provides couples ID's that specifically say they are registered as such with the government agency.

Now, as La Hora reported on Wednesday, a Pichincha district court has ruled in favor of a lesbian couple seeking to register their civil union with the Civil Registry since 2010 and ruled the Registry must recognize same-sex couples ("Court: Same-sex unions will be recognized").

For now the ruling only applies to María Belén Gómez Salgado and Daniela Alcántara - the lesbian couple who went to court to demand equal access to civil union rights.

La Hora says that an LGBT-rights non profit organization called the Equality Foundation is urging other couples who have entered into civil unions to do as Ms. Gómez and Ms. Alcántara did and go to the courts instead of waiting for the law to adopt the court's ruling.

Image: A lesbian couple participate in a May 17th "kiss-in" honoring the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

Update: 

• Ecuadorian police use force to break up anti-homophobia rally in Quito (July 6, 2012)

Previously:

• Ecuador's Health Minister: 'Ex-gay' clinics are "shocking evidence of the prejudices we hod as a society" (Feb. 24, 2012)

Peru: LGBT rights and this weekend's presidential elections

Peruvians go to the polls this weekend to elect a new president but they probably won't know who won until June:  None of the leading candidates is expected to get the majority of the votes and, if that's the case, the two top vote getters will be heading for a run-off election ("Leftist favored in Peru vote but run-off expected" - Reuters, April 6, 2011).

In terms of LGBT rights, it's been both breathtaking and frustrating to see issues such as same-sex civil unions be embraced by most of the leading candidates even as they also try to outdo each other in expressing their opposition to same-sex marriage ("Same-sex unions in Perú: Along-shot, except at roiling the presidential race" - Time, March 1, 2011).

That LGBT issues have gained so much traction in the Peruvian presidential elections is probably due to vice-presidential candidate Carlos Bruce (pictured) who is running next to former Peruvian president Alejandro Toledo as Toledo makes a 2nd bid for the top office.

Throughout the campaign, Bruce, who is divorced and says he'll never marry again, has been a steadfast advocate for LGBT rights promising to push for a hate crime bill that would penalize homophobic persecution against gays and for a civil unions bill granting partnership rights to gay and lesbian couples.

Back in January, as the Toledo-Bruce team led most of the presidential polls, Bruce sat down with the team of a Peruvian version of Dan Savage's "It Gets Better Project" called "Proyecto Todo Mejora" and addressed Peruvian queer youth...

The message itself is a little muddled. I'm not sure everyone who has bullied gays when they are younger grows up to be a failure nor does the experience of coming to terms with one's sexuality mean you'll be an economically successful person. But it's nevertheless impressive that Bruce didn't seem to think twice about participating in the project in the middle of a presidential campaign [NOTE: At the 5:28 mark, I've also spliced-in a shorter video posted days later by congressional candidate Ronald Gamarra who has also been a longtime LGBT-rights advocate but was probably inspired by Bruce to post his own video on YouTube].

That was January when the election was Toledo's to lose.  Now, three days before the election, polls indicate the Toledo-Bruce ticket might not even make the run-off.  Toledo, who previously led the country on the center-left, is a known entity, but he has been hurt by being equivocal on a number of issues, perhaps having promised too much earlier in the race, and now having to reign back some of his views on social issues like abortion and the legalization of drugs.

The declining fortunes for the Toledo-Bruce team has benefited two other candidates who are leading the polls:

Ollanta Humala, a left wing candidate who almost won the presidential race when he faced Alan Garcia in a run-off in 2006; and Keiko Fujimori, who wants to take the right-wing mantle of her father, former Peruvian president and human rights violator Alberto Fujimori.

Humala is running a much-different campaign than he ran in 2006.  Back then he always wore a red shirt or military uniform and spoke in no uncertain terms about his leftist credentials. Four years later, he's dropped the red shirts in favor of suits and toned down his left-wing rhetoric in ways that observers say make him more palatable to Peruvian middle-class voters.

In the 2006 race, Humala sought to present himself as gay friendly, specifically after his mother was quoted as saying that gays should be shot.  He didn't necessarily spell out any specific LGBT-related policies as part of his presidential platform but did say that gays could serve in his cabinet if they were qualified. Some in his party also said he would make use his presidency to push for a hate-crimes bill.

Most of the leading LGBT organizations and leaders staged protests against Humala and characterized his few overtures as deceitful but he did win the endorsement of a fringe LGBT rights organization called Raiz Diversidad Sexual.

Still, the controversy over his mother's shocking words lingered and he must have felt a need to cover his bases as he looked ahead at the 2011 elections.

In December of 2009, during a nation-wide tour, he stopped in Tarapoto and marched with a number of transgender community leaders.  In January of that year, the region had been the site where a news organization had captured shocking images of a vigilante crew going after a transgender sex worker ("News cameras capture inhuman beating, undressing and humiliation of transgender street worker") so it was quite a sight to see Humala march down the Tarapoto streets next to the transgender activists...

"I believe there should be opportunities for [LGBT] people, give them labor rights," he said to the reporter who covered his Tarapoto visit.

The following clip shows the less than thrilled reactions from some of the LGBT leaders in Lima as well as interviews with his mother and his father.

That was a little more than a year ago. But we now have a new Humala.

On March 2st, he met with Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani and came out of the meeting telling reporters that his campaign and the church were in agreement on "the importance of defending family values" and saying that his party had "conservative Catholic beliefs" and saw the "family" as being a man, a woman and their children.

Humala had previously seemed open to granting civil union rights to same-sex couples even as he opposed marriage equality, much like Toledo, but following his new Catholic awakening he even cast doubts on whether he would be in favor of civil unions.

"In some countries, you simply have a division of belongings," he said to El Comercio, "It's unnecessary to grant laws to a minority or a specific group of Peruvians because that could also be an exclusion, as if they were different, and I don't see them as being different."

"We cannot demonize them nor push them to the margins," he continued, "I don't see them as being different".

In other words, if he is elected president he seems more than ready to deny equal rights to gay and lesbians even as he has the gall to say he'll do it for the sake of equality.

By the way, gay blogger Peruanista, who was born in Peru but lives in DC, has a whole different take than I do on Humala and has endorsed him.  He also posted a Spanish-language video on YouTube defending Humala's meeting with Cardinal Cipriani and the statements he made after the meeting.

Peruanista interviewed Humala on his stand on LGBT issues in September of 2010 during one of Humala's visits to the United States.  Here is the video, shared without translation.

Related: 

• "When did 2011 go wrong?" (SPANISH) - Blog del Ocio, March 27, 2011

On Valentine's Day, gays in Latin America demand marriage equality and an end to homophobic violence

As commercialized as Valentine's Day has become over the years, it also has become a prime opportunity for the LGBT community to make our lack of partnership rights visible whether it's in the United States or any other country that 'observes' the unofficial ode to lovers.

Take France, for example. One of our favorite French blogs posted an amazing video of a massive kiss-in that took place in Paris ("Yagg: Kiss-in against homophobia"). The awesome scene has been a sensation and been picked up by a lot of the big blogs out there including The Huffington Post, Towleroad, Joe.My.God, Queerty, Mike Tidmus, etc.

Definitely less massive but just as important were several demonstrations that took place yesterday throughout Latin America.

Peru: Meet Jonathan and Oscar (right), college students and members of the LGBTI Student Bloc of Lima. In what Blog de Lima calls the 2nd annual "Kisses against homophobia" street action, they joined other several gay and lesbian couples and tried to take over the main public space inside a popular Lima shopping mall.

The couples held hands and kissed as they made their way through the mall but ran into heavy security as they tried to congregate inside the mall's main gathering spot. Several couples embraced each other and kissed for the cameras once they left the building (thanks to leading Peruvian LGBT rights advocate Jorge Alberto Chávez Reyes for providing images and video).



Meanwhile, across town, members of the Peruvian TTLGB Network congregated at the "Love Park" in Lima's Miraflores district for a symbolic marriage ceremony between same-sex couples. The Network, which had participated in previous kiss-in actions, said that they wanted to highlight the lack of same-sex partnership rights in the country.

"Just as the laws have to change in Mexico and Argentina, making civil rights be available for everyone, that's what our community demands", said well-known lesbian attorney Susel Paredes, who participated in the ceremony and symbolically married her partner, as quoted by the EFE news service.

There are conflicting reports of how many couples participated in the symbolic marriage. EFE says there were five but Peruvian media says that there were four as well as a heterosexual couple who was there in support for same-sex partnership recognition but did not participate in the ceremony.



Argentina: I haven't seen any coverage yet, but on the eve of Valentine's Day, the leading network of organizations advocating for marriage equality in Argentina called for members of the LGBT community and allies to participate in the 2nd annual "Picnics for the Same Love". The Argentinian LGBT Federation, in collaboration with ElMismoAmor.org [off-line at this moment] were the leading organizers (source: AG Magazine).

Two Argentinean men became the first same-sex couple to marry in all of Latin America back in December after a court declared that it was discriminatory to deny them the right to marry but other gay couples wishing to marry are awaiting an expected Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of allowing gay couples to do so.

I do know that, as part of the Valentine's Day events, Argentinean advocates launched their YouTube video version of Lily Allen's "Fuck You":



Chile: Chile is further back on the path of recognizing marriage equality but that didn't keep members from the United Movement of Sexual Minorities (MUMS) to take to the capital's Army Plaza and demand the right to marry.

"Chile is a country in which not everyone is equal," said MUMS director Fernando Muñoz, "it's a country where the laws keep you out and put you on the margin specifically in the sense that there is no recognition of same-sex partners or of common-law partners in the law that recognizes partnerships, nor of those who might want to conform one."

Muñoz also said that if the current law specifically establishes that marriage is only allowed for procreation and implied that it was hypocritical to keep gays from marriage but allow straight couples who cannot procreate to marry even if the law said they don't qualify (source: Radio Cooperativa).

Mexico: As in Argentina, marriage equality is a red-hot topic in Mexico ever since the Mexico City legislature passed a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry in Mexico's capital city (the law goes into effect in March). The measure, which also explicitly would allow same-sex couples to adopt, has run into vehement opposition from right wing politicians and religious leaders - and will also be heading to the country's Supreme Court for review later in the year.

Yesterday's La Jornada reported that different LGBT rights organizations from Jalisco, Colima and Guanajuato marched down the streets of Guadalajara to demand equal partnership rights. The group, mostly made up of lesbian and gay members from different regional university student groups, carried signs and expressed a desire for having similar rights granted to gays and lesbians in Mexico City. The group gathered outside the University of Guadalajara and made their way to the city's main plaza where they staged a kiss-in as the shadow of the city's Metropolitan Cathedral fell on them.

Milenio describes the scene outside the Cathedral and gives a better sense of how massive the march was. They estimate the crowd at 350 and say that, in addition to the kiss-in, eleven gay and lesbian couples also participated in a symbolic wedding ceremony. They also report homophobic insults and obscenities being hurled at marchers even as organizers expressed relief that there were no outbursts of violence.

"We received many threats form many people who said they were not going to allow us to march, including many who said they would be waiting here at the Cathedral to prevent us carrying on with the event, but at the end, none of that came to be," said Karina Velasco Michel.

These weren't the only LGBT-rights demonstrations that took place yesterday in Mexico, nor in other cities throughout Latin America, but I wanted to give you a flavor of what went on.

Mexican supreme court will determine constitutionality of Mexico City's marriage equality law: NY Times

On December 29th Alex Freyre and José Maria Di Bello shocked the world by becoming the first gay couple to be allowed to marry in all of Latin America. Their marriage victory in Argentina came after a protracted court battle which ended when a Buenos Aires judge ruled that it was discriminatory to deny them the right to marry. A Buenos Aires court placed a stay on that ruling but the couple circumvented that last obstacle by traveling to Tierra del Fuego, where that municipality's Governor's Office allowed the marriage to proceed, making Latin American history at the end of 2009.

By some accounts, more than a hundred same sex couples in Argentina have filed marriage claims following Freyre and Di Bello's historic wedding but, as of now, there are still no laws allowing same-sex couples to marry anywhere in Argentina and no marriage bureaus willing to grant marriage rights to other couples.

is no law allowing those marriages to take place or a marriage bureau willing to start processing additional marriages. The matter is to be decided later this year when the Supreme Court is expected to take up the matter and determine whether the Argentinian constitution is indeed discriminatory in not allowing same-sex couples to wed.

Buenos Aires already enjoyed the reputation of being the first city in Latin America to have granted limited civil union benefits to same-sex couples in the year 2003. In 2007, Uruguay became the first Latin American country to adopt a country-wide same-sex civil unions measure. In 2009, the Colombian constitutional court stopped short of calling for marriage equality but ruled that same-sex partners had the right to the same rights as heterosexual couples. Mexico City and other Mexican localities have also passed limited same-sex civil union statutes since 2006. Some municipalities in Brazil and Ecuador have also passed similar measures. But it wasn't until December that Mexico City became the first municipality in all of Latin America to approve a law allowing same-sex partners to marry. The law goes into effect on Thursday, March 4th, and hundreds of couples are expected to take advantage of the opportunity to marry.

As you would expect, the measure, which also allows same-sex couples to have the same adoption rights as heterosexual partners, has drawn the ire of right-wing political parties and conservative religious groups. Mexico's attorney general has filed a suit to block the law before the Mexican supreme court. The court recently announced that it will accept the suit and determine whether the law is constitutional. But the suit won't reach the court until possibly the end of the year and, by then, hundreds of couples might have already married.

Today's New York Times takes a look at the law and its repercussions. I believe it gives too much credence to the conservative parties that are trying to derail the law but it is a worthy read ["Gay marriage puts Mexico City at center of debate"]. It is also the only English-language coverage that I have seen covering the right-wing challenges that await the landmark law in months to come.

So, come March 4th, please join me in celebrating the same-sex marriages that will take place in Mexico City and rejoice in their historic nature. But also know that the law faces incredible challenges in the future and that the marriage equality fight in Mexico, as in the United States, is far from won.

So. Freakin'. Cute!

I have been so amazed and perplexed that a same-sex marriage has taken place in the United States in a state other than Massachusetts and it hasn't really mattered much in terms of right-wing outrage (I guess they seem to be diverted to anti-immigration issues this time around - or the Larry Craig thingie).

But that does not mean that I am not tremendously moved by the tale of 21 year old Tim McQillan and 24 year old Sean Fritz (above) having pulled it off in Iowa the name of love - and tried to go as far as sorta having a honeymoon, according to the DesMoines Register.

It was the same emotions that pulled the strings of my heart this week when I saw photos of political pundit Andrew Sullivan marrying his partner Aaron Tone (below).

I mean they better stop 'cause the fevah seems to be spreading all the way down to Bolivia.

I guess only my partner knows how jittery I got when I spotted Sullivan at a Ranch 1 restaurant a few years ago and spilled all the contents of my tray out of nervousness and awe and such.

In any case happy marriages to both cute couples, courtesy of Blabbeando.

This Friday: Meet Mexican gay rights advocate Antonio Medina

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) invites you to a “meet & greet” with Antonio Medina, well-known journalist and editor of Letra S, La Jornada’s monthly lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) and sexology supplement. La Jornada is one of Mexico’s most important newspapers. Medina will share his own experiences in trying to eradicate sensationalistic LGBT images in mainstream media.

Hear – from someone who’s always been at the forefront – how the LGBT community enacted Mexico City’s civil unions. Medina and his partner, Jorge Cerpa (pictured above in a photo from La Jornada) became the first gay couple who signed a civil union in that city.

Come & create ways to share vital information between your organization and Mexico’s LGBT community.

Date: Friday, April 27, 2007
Location: GLAAD
248 W 35th St, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Time: 7pm-9pm

Snacks will be served.

YOU MUST RSVP: E-mail Mónica Taher at taher@glaad.org or call Hunter Aldrich at 646-871-8007.

Event co-sponsored by: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Mano a Mano, Mateando, Puerto Rico para Tod@s, Gay and Lesbian Dominican Empowerment Organization (GALDE) & Primer Movimiento Peruano LGBT.

If I had time...

If I had time, I'd probably blog about:

1. Puerto Rico debates civil unions for same-sex couples: My friend Pedro Julio Serrano's amazingly moving speech today in Puerto Rico asking a panel that is currently reviewing changes to the island's civil code to approve language that would grant civil union status to same-sex couples. El Nuevo Dia says that he began his declaration by kissing his partner, Steven Toledo on his lips shocking some legislators. Earlier the paper also said that, at the end of his speech, Pedro Julio began to call on several same-sex couples in the audience by their names and, one by one, they stood up as he told the audience that "We are just as human as you are, we are just as equal as you are, we are just as Puerto Rican as you are. Honorable legislators, please do what is just, do what is right: Please validate equal rights before the law of all human beings. Everyone is everyone" (photo above by Andre Kang of Primera Hora; some people cried).

2. Lesbian Judge Karen Atala might settle custody suit with the Chilean government with the help of a New York based attorney: In a case before the Interamerican Commission on Human Rights Chilean judge Karen Atala alleges that her country discriminated against her by granting custody of her daughters to her ex-husband only because she was a lesbian. Now comes word that the suit might be settled if Chile agrees to Atala's terms (see Rompiendo el Silencio). Her lawyer, Macarena Sáez, is based in New York City and some US agencies have filed amicus briefs on Atala's behalf.

3. Transgender murders in Chile increase: The Santiago Times via Worldpress.org has the details.

4. Gays in Turkey: The Turkish Daily News reports on recognition of gays and lesbians in the country.

EXCLUSIVE: Miss Universe 2001 to back equal rights for gays, transgender individuals in Puerto Rico

( photo courtesy of: www.befoto.com ; make up by www.KarloStar.com )

A Blabbeando AND Puerto Rico Para Tod@s EXCLUSIVE:

--- To read a Spanish version of this statement please go to El Blog de PJ ---

In a press statement that will be sent out tomorrow, March 14 of 2007, Denise Quiñones, Miss Universe 2001, will publicly express her support for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Puerto Rico. Her declaration makes her the Puerto Rican celebrity with the most international recognition to support equal rights for all in the island as part of the public debate on the revision of the Puerto Rican Civil Code.

The well-regarded and much-loved actress and singer will make a number of courageous and powerful statements expressing her unconditional support for proposed changes to Puerto Rico’s Civil Code which would grant civil union rights to same-sex couples as well as heterosexual couples.

Furthermore, Ms. Quiñones, who was recently recognized with the ACE award for Outstanding Theatre Actress, will also demonstrate her unconditional support for the entire LGBT community, and not just gays and lesbians, by also backing the right for transgender persons to change their birth certificates to better reflect their current gender.

She will also call on fellow Puerto Rican celebrities and personalities to join her in speaking out in favor of the LGBT community and ask the general public to see the ongoing public debate on the Civil Code as an opportunity to bring together the Puerto Rican family.

Finally, Denise will also urge those who believe in equality for all to visit the Puerto Rico Para Tod@s web portal where they can register and quickly send the legislature messages supporting these much-needed changes to the Civil Code.

The portal can be found here: http://www.prparatodos.org/proyectoley.php

With these courageous and valiant words, Denise Quiñones is a towering example of what every fair-minded Puerto Rican person must do at this crucial moment in the fight for equality: Speak up without reservations in favor of justice for all.

Denise, we have always admired you for your beauty, your career as an artist and your extensive work on behalf of people who live with HIV/AIDS. Now we admire you even more!