The appeal of a gay Ecuadorian couple
denied a marriage license was heard on Tuesday.
In November, Santiago Vinces and
Fernando Saltos were joined in Guayaquil by dozens of supporters as
they applied for a marriage license at the civil registry office.
While the government had 8 days to decide, the couple was informed
the following day that they did not meet the qualifications to marry.
“That is a basic expression of the
principle of equality,” Ramiro Garcia, the couple's lawyer, told
reporters after Tuesday's hearing. “Two people who want to access
the same right that any other couple can access.”
Judge Maria del Pilar Canales Santos
said she would hand down her uling in the next couple of days.
Under the Ecuador Constitution ratified
in 2008, gay and lesbian couples are recognized with civil unions,
granting them all of the rights of marriage except for joint
adoption. But marriage is reserved for heterosexual couples.
Pamela Troya and Gariela Correa made
headlines in August when they applied for a marriage license and were
also denied.
Harsh comments in May against allowing
gay couples to marry from President Rafael Correa provoked an
international backlash and led to the emergence of a campaign to
legalize marriage for gay couples in Ecuador.
(Related: Ecuador's
Rafael Correa opposes transgender bill as it could lead to gay
marriage.)