ECUADOR TO REGISTER GAY UNIONS, BUT NOT MARRIAGES

Ecuador’s President, Rafael Correa, has announced that the country will start to recognise same-sex unions from next month.

Although civil unions for all couples – regardless of gender or sexual orientation – have technically been legal since the country’s Constitution was approved in 2008, the Ecuadoran Civil Registry has refused to register same-sex unions.

This is about to change, after Correa confirmed that same-sex unions must be recognised by the registry and that the government will take action if they are not, reports Telesur.

“The LGBT community have the constitutional right to register on their union,” Correa said during his weekly report on Saturday.

AFP also quoted him as saying: “Gays, lesbians, transgender and transsexual people have the full constitutional right to include their civil union on their ID card. If there was any doubt about heterosexual or same-sex civil unions being put on national ID cards, there is none any more.”

However, Correa stands by the definition of marriage as only being between a man and a woman, a definition that is entrenched in the country’s Constitution.

Correa, who is Catholic, made the announcement after meeting with representatives of the LGBTI community last week.

The registration of same-sex unions in Ecuador is expected to start on 15 September.