Chilean parliamentarians have adopted marriage for all, causing shouts of joy from gay and lesbian activists gathered in front of Parliament. For the occasion, the presidential palace was illuminated in the colors of the rainbow, the symbol of the LGBT community. A double vote in the Senate and in the Assembly which took place on the evening of Tuesday, December 7. With a very clear result in the Assembly of 82 votes in favor, 20 against, 2 abstentions. A result greeted by the applause of the members standing. The result was expected to be tighter in the Senate, but there too it did not make a fold: 21 votes for and 8 against.
The text does not stop at legalizing marriage for all. It also paves the way for adoption for married homosexual couples. It is the culmination of a very long legislative journey, which began more than four years ago. The text remained for a long time buried and stuck in parliamentary shuttles. The new law has yet to be enacted by President Pinera, whose term is ending. But he made a commitment to do so. And the text should therefore enter into force in March.
All this is therefore happening at a time when the presidential campaign is in full swing, with two candidates with radically opposed ideas on social issues. On the one hand there is Jose Antonio Kast, 55, who came first in the first round. He is the heir to the Chilean far right, nostalgic for the Pinochet dictatorship. Conservative Catholic, father of 9 children, he regularly denounces “the gay lobby” and considers that any child “must have a father and a mother”. But he is careful not to promise the annulment of this law on same-sex marriage, for a simple reason: 74% of Chileans are in favor.
On the other side, his radical left rival, Gabriel Boric, 35, former student leader. He welcomes the new text, which he describes as “victory of love despite the resistance of those who do not believe in freedom”. The presidential election is scheduled for December 19. These last days the two candidates put a little water in their wine, to try to convince the moderate electorate, but their duel is revealing of the deep divisions which cross this country of 19 million inhabitants. In particular on the questions of society, for example abortion remains prohibited there except in the cases of rape or danger for the life of the mother. The polls give the left-wing candidate a slight advantage so far, but they are not necessarily very reliable in Chile.
In any case, Chile therefore becomes the 30th country in the world to allow marriage for all. The Netherlands were the first to take this decision twenty years ago. Fifteen other European countries followed, including France. And if not, it is mainly in Latin America that the situation has evolved in recent years. Chile becomes the 7th country on the continent to legalize marriage for all, after Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay and Costa Rica. In Mexico, which is a federal country, this is also the case in about half of the states. Conversely, it remains extremely rare in Africa and Asia, the only exceptions being South Africa and Taiwan.