Costa Rica legalises same-sex marriage

San Jose: Costa Rica legalised same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight.

San Jose (Costa Rica), May 26: Costa Rica is expected to become the latest country to legalise same-sex marriage early Tuesday when a ruling from its supreme court goes into effect ending the country’s ban.

Couples scheduled ceremonies — mostly private due to the Covid-19, but some that would be broadcast — to celebrate their unions before judges and notaries after the ban was lifted. Costa Rica would become the sixth country in Latin America to legalise same-sex marriage, following Ecuador, which allowed it last year. It is also permitted in parts of Mexico.

The issue took centre stage in Costa Rica’s 2018 presidential election after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights earlier that year issued an opinion that countries like Costa Rica, which had signed the American Convention on Human Rights, had to move immediately to legalise gay marriage. It helped propel President Carlos Alvarado to victory over an evangelical candidate, Fabricio Alvarado, who had campaigned against it.

In August 2018, Costa Rica’s supreme court said the country’s ban was unconstitutional and gave the congress 18 months to correct it or it would happen automatically.

The Legislative Assembly did not act, so at midnight the law banning same-sex marriage was nullified.