By Andrés Méndez – Hivos

June 12 was a historical day for Latin America and Ecuador, after the country’s Constitutional Court published a ruling approving same-sex marriage. The resolution, supported by 5 of the 9 Court members, was based on the recommendations of the 24-17 Inter American Human Rights Court’s Consultative Opinion. It compels Ecuador to recognize same-sex unions.

It all started when Javier Benalcazar and Efraín Soría requested the inscription of their marriage before the Civil Registry of Ecuador, who then presented the enquiry at the Court of Pichincha. The Court ruled that denying this recognition was a discriminatory act against equal rights.

“This is a victory, -the most important one-, because it will allow us to work against homophobia and change our culture of violence” – Efraín Soría.

Now Ecuador’s National Assembly must modify the necessary laws so that same-sex couples can acquire all the rights that were previously denied to them.

From black-to-white to all the colors

Until now, 7 Latin American countries have made statements or legal reforms in favor of same-sex unions: it’s a group integrated by Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Chile and Costa Rica. This last one will likely make same-sex marriage a reality until May 2020.

Pride Month will be widely celebrated all over the world this year for many reasons, including the progressive steps forward given recently by Taiwan, who recognized same-sex marriage and Botswana, who de-criminalized homosexuality.