Court Decisions

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  • Courts in Latin America are increasingly ruling that countries must allow same-sex couples to marry. Read some recent rulings on marriage for same-sex couples:


    Ruling on Civil Marriage from the United States Supreme Court

    On June 26, 2015 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of civil marriage for same-sex couples, clearing the way for same-sex couples nationwide to marry that day. 

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    Ruling on Civil Marriage from Constitutional Court of Colombia

    Same-sex couples have had the freedom to marry since May 2016, a month after the country’s Constitutional Court issued a ruling in favor of the freedom to marry on April 28, 2016. The Court ruled that banning same-sex marriage was unconstitutional under the Colombian Constitution of 1991.

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    Ruling from the Mexico Supreme Court on Civil Marriage (2014)

    A second ruling from the Mexico Supreme Court on civil marriage.

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    Ruling from the Mexico Supreme Court on Civil Marriage

    On December 5, 2012 the Supreme Court of Justice in Mexico ruled in favor of three same-sex couples in Oaxaca, writing that laws restricting marriage to different-sex couples violated federal law and are unconstitutional. The ruling did not immediately establish civil marriage for same-sex couples nationwide but did affirm that same-sex couples who obtain an injunction in any state can marry. 

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    Civil Marriage Decision from Costa Rica’s Supreme Court of Justice

    The Costa Rica Supreme Court struck down the country's marriage ban in 2018, declaring unconstitutional the sections of the Family Code that impede civil marriage for same-sex couples. The ruling gives the Legislative Assembly 18 months to reform the law accordingly; otherwise the sections of the Code would be abolished automatically.

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    Ecuador Constitutional Court Ruling on Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples

    On June 13, 2019, the Constitutional Court of Ecuador ruled that Ecuador’s ban on marriage for same-sex couples was unconstitutional, becoming the first country to implement the Inter-American Court of Human Rights advisory opinion. Same-sex couples began legally marrying on July 9, 2019.

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    The Inter-American Court of Human Rights

    On January 8, 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights issued a landmark advisory opinion (OC-24) affirming that all signatory countries should extend all existing legal protections - including marriage - to same-sex couples.

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