RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On May 26th, Costa Rica’s first same-sex marriage in its history was celebrated. A few minutes after the law allowing civil marriage for same-sex couples came into force, Daritza Araya and Alexandra Quirós said their “I do”s.
Some 15,000 people watched the ceremony on a livestream, including Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Chile. With the end of the marriage monopoly of heterosexual couples, a battle that has polarized the country in recent years has been won for now.
In the end, there was much euphoria and relief among the country’s LTGBI community and progressive circles. Marco Castillo, a well-known attorney and gay activist, married his long-time partner on Tuesday and commented: “This ring represents what we will live from now on, which is not very different from what we have lived but is now endorsed by the state”.
A few hours earlier, the country’s social liberal President Carlos Alvarado spoke of a “social and cultural transformation” that the new legislation would entail. “Today we celebrate freedom, equality and democratic institutions,” Alvarado tweeted.
Marriage for all was one of Alvarado’s campaign pledges. Midway into the presidential election campaign, on January 9th, 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IDH) responded to an inquiry by the still-ruling Costa Rican government under Alvarado’s party member Luis Guillermo Solís.
The Court ruled that the American Convention on Human Rights provides for equal opportunities for same-sex couples. Costa Rica and in fact all countries that recognize the Court would thus be required to end all discrimination against these couples.
The ruling polarized the election campaign in the Central American country and eclipsed all previously dominating issues. The greatest proponent and the greatest opponent of the IDH ruling made it to the second round of the presidential elections: the current president and the evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado.
A year and a half after Carlos Alvarado took office, after fierce opposition from the country’s conservative circles and debate in parliament and the courts, marriage is now a reality for everyone. The president, who is struggling with disappointing poll results, is trying to sell this as an achievement of his government.
The attorney, human rights activist, and bisexual militant Larissa Arroyo Navarrete sharply criticizes these claims: “This celebration is no credit to the government! Furthermore, the Costa Rican state does not recognize our rights out of its own goodwill, but rather as a result of the struggle of many people over many decades.”
Arroyo was an attorney representing two Costa Rican women before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH). They brought proceedings against Costa Rica because they were banned from abortions despite pregnancy complications. On December 12th, 2019, Parliament passed a law that closed a loophole in the law and allows abortions in case of health risks to the mother.
During Alvarado’s presidency, two socially progressive laws were thus passed, both of which have been opposed by the churches and conservative circles. Fabricio Alvarado commented on the enactment of the marriage for all with: “The majority of the population is not celebrating today, today we are suffering from the actions of a sick, corrupt and sinister party, which is only interested in imposing its own ideology.”
Columnist Álvaro Murillo points out that despite all the joy, a bitter aftertaste still lingers: marriage for all has not been legalized by referendum or parliamentary decision, but rather by a court ruling. Moreover, according to surveys, only a third of the population is in favor of the reform.
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