Same-Sex Unions — Maybe Marriages — Begin in Colombia

Couples began seeking relationship recognition as a court decision went into effect, but it's unclear if 'recognition' means marriage.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

June 21 2013 2:24 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Colombian same-sex couples began applying for legal recognition of their relationships Thursday, in light of a court ruling that went into effect, but it remained unclear if their unions would be deemed marriages.

"Colombia's Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled gays and lesbians can legally register their relationships on June 20 if the country's lawmakers failed to extend to them the same benefits heterosexuals receive through marriage," the Washington Blade notes. "The Colombian Senate in April overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have allowed same-sex couples to tie the knot in the South American country."

The ruling did not use the term "marriage" but said couples could "formalize and solemnize their contractual link" before a notary or a judge. Some officials have said this excluded the possibility of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, but Colombia's attorney general, Eduardo Montealegre Lynett, "said notaries and judges are free to interpret the court's decision" as they wish, the Blade reports, citing a Colombian newspaper.

Couples began submitting paperwork to these authorities yesterday. "There are many couples like us in this country who have found their relationships have reached the point of committing themselves in civil marriage," Elizabeth Castillo said in a press conference outside a municipal courthouse in Bogota, the nation's capital, where she and partner Claudia Zea applied to register their union. "For gay people to marry is an act of valor."