The Constitution, Legislation and Justice Commission of the Senate of Chile approved the bill to legalize equal marriage in the South American country, after four years of entering the legislative chamber.
The project was sent to Parliament in 2017 by the government of then-president Michelle Bachelet, but their discussion was resumed after last June 1, during his last Public Account, President Sebastián Piñera announced that he would give urgency to the treatment of the regulations.
The Constitution Commission rejected two indications presented on the project – by Senator Iván Moreira and former Senator Víctor Pérez -, which were pending to complete their discussion in this instance.
[AHORA] 📋 Senate Constitution Committee approved draft #Igualitarian marriage that modifies various legal bodies to regulate, under equal conditions, the marriage of same-sex couples🏳️🌈Now the initiative goes to the Finance Commission for discussion. pic.twitter.com/bADQN0qpKZ
– Senate Chile (@Senado_Chile) June 29, 2021
The indications that were not accepted were related to the order of the surnames of the first child of the common marriage.
Now, the project will go to the Finance Commission, where the respective financial report will be made; and from this instance it will be referred to the full Senate for discussion and subsequent voting.
“A very important day”
“Without a doubt today is a very important day for the recognition of civil rights for many people in our country. […] We believe that with this our country is moving forward in the recognition of the dignity and rights of many people “, He said the independent senator Pedro Araya, after the approval of the project in the Constitution Commission, which he presides.
For her part, Isabel Amor, Executive Director of Fundación Iguales, said that “This is an important victory, but not conclusive”.
“We still have on the horizon the very hard work of reaching agreements in the Chamber, eliminating discrimination against trans people and ordering well how the surnames of boys and girls born in maternal or co-maternal families will be arranged,” said Amor, quoted in a Press release of the foundation he directs.
For his part, the leader of the Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation (Movilh) Rolando Jiménez pointed out that although “the political class is arriving too late to recognize the full legal equality of same-sex couples and their children” and that “the Equal marriage is a mature debate in society for many years “, today “a relevant step” was taken.
“We hope to advance quickly, so that this year the law is enacted,” he emphasized, according to a review by a release by Movilh.
