Same-sex marriage in Colombia

The decision took effect immediately, and made Colombia the fourth country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage,[1] after Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.

[4][5] A subsequent court decision, handed down in October 2007, extended social security and health insurance rights to same-sex couples.

[19][20] On the same day, senators Benedetti and Barreras introduced a bill allowing same-sex couples to adopt children,[21][22] but likewise the measure was not voted on.

On 26 July 2011, the Constitutional Court ruled unanimously 9–0 (in case C-577/2011) that, although it could not change the definition of marriage as "the union of a man and a woman", same-sex couples have the right to form a family.

The court ordered the Congress of Colombia to pass legislation addressing this issue, whether by legalizing same-sex marriage or another marriage-like union, within two years (i.e. by 20 June 2013).

[31] Days before the vote, the superintendent of the Superintendence of Notaries and Registrations of Colombia, Jorge Enrique Vélez, announced that if the Congress failed to pass the same-sex marriage bill before the 20 June deadline, the Ministry of Justice and Law, led by Minister Ruth Stella Correa Palacio, would prepare guidelines for notaries and judges to conduct "solemn contracts" for same-sex couples.

In May 2015, Interior Minister Juan Fernando Cristo announced the government's support for a move to recognise same-sex marriage.

He made the statement the day after a multi-country same-sex couple began an unprecedented legal battle to have their 2013 marriage performed in Spain recognised in Colombia.

Same-sex couples married abroad are now entitled to the same visa, health care benefits, inheritance and pension rights as heterosexual spouses once they take a stamped marriage certificate and identification papers to the nearest designated office.

[50] In March 2016, a draft of a ruling, considered to be a minority opinion of the Constitutional Court, was published by Judge Jorge Ignacio Pretelt.

[51] Judge Alberto Rojas Río was assigned to prepare a new proposal, which was expected to be in line with the court majority's view (i.e. to declare that prohibiting same-sex couples from getting married is unconstitutional).

[52][53][54][55] The court announced its decision on 28 April 2016, ruling by a 6–3 margin that "marriage between people of the same sex does not violate the constitutional order".

[60] Judge Maria Victoria Calle Correa wrote, "all people are free to choose independently to start a family in keeping with their sexual orientation... receiving equal treatment under the constitution and the law."

The court's ruling informed state judges, notaries and clerks that they "must ensure that citizens' fundamental rights are observed and that they are all granted equal treatment.

[68] In December 2019, Mayor Claudia López Hernández of Bogotá married her partner Senator Angélica Lozano Correa,[69] in one of the more notable same-sex marriages in Colombia.

[71] According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted between 28 November 2013 and 4 March 2014, 28% of Colombians supported same-sex marriage, while 64% were opposed.