HUMAN RIGHTS

Gay rights groups push for same-sex marriage in Chile

Two groups have formally asked the country's controller-general to require President Sebastián Piñera's government to promote a measure in Congress to legalize same-sex marriage.

Leaders of the Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement of Chile organisation, Ramón Gómez, left, and Gonzalo Velásquez, prepare to present an accusation against the Chilean government for breaching a 2016 same-sex marriage agreement with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights at the controller-general headquarters in Santiago, Chile, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019. Foto: AP/Esteban Felix
10 September 2019

Gay rights activists are renewing efforts to legalise same-sex marriage in Chile.

Two groups have formally asked the country's controller-general to require President Sebastián Piñera's government to promote a measure in Congress to legalize same-sex marriage.

The left-leaning administration of former president Michelle Bachelet promised the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in 2016 that it would push for such a measure. But Piñera's conservative administration has backed away, saying the commitment is not binding on it.

The comptroller's office oversees proper application of laws in Chile.

The Equals Foundation filed its request Monday. The Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement of Chile joined it on Tuesday.

Chile allows gay civil unions, but doesn't register same-sex weddings. In recent years it has liberalised some laws, such as permitting divorce.

– AP

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