Big hurrah for marriage equality.
A court in Ecuador ruled that the nation’s ban on same-sex marriage is illegal.
This decision was rendered by two judges in the Family, Women, Children and Adolescents Court in response to two cases brought by same-sex couples who were denied marriage licenses. The judges ruled that they must be allowed to wed immediately, as they cited a January ruling by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that the 20 countries under its jurisdiction must offer equal marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Last year, a decision in favor of marriage equality was released by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in response to a case filed in Costa Rica. Thereafter, the member countries of the Organization of American States across Central and South America have to comply with the ruling.
Ecuador initially did not follow the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights with the country’s Civil Registry denying licenses to the two female couples, leading to the cases that came before the Ecuadorian court in the city of Cuenca. Family, Women, Children and Adolescents Court Judges Iliana Vallejo and Ruth Alvarez both ruled that rejection of the women’s marriage license applications was a violation of their human rights.
The Civil Registry is appealing the ruling to the Provincial Court in Azuay, the province in which Cuenca is located.
