Chilean President Michelle Bachelet on
Thursday announced that her government will introduce a same-sex
marriage bill.
According to local reports, Bachelet
announced the legislation in an address to Congress.
“It cannot be that old prejudices are
stronger than love,” she reportedly said.
Since 2015, Chile has recognized gay
and lesbian couples with civil unions. As part of her 2013 campaign,
Bachelet pledged to introduce a same-sex marriage bill. Some
lawmakers at the time said that they voted for civil unions in an
effort to derail the government's promise of a marriage bill.
Bachelet's government last June agreed
to introduce legislation extending marriage and adoption rights to
same-sex couples as part of a settlement in a lawsuit brought by
three couples, each of whom had been denied a marriage license. The
couples were represented by the Movement for Homosexual Integration
and Liberation.
“President Bachelet today has
reaffirmed the amicable solution she reached with our organization,”
Rolando Jimenez, the group's president, said
in a statement. Jimenez added that his group was planning a
“massive march” to support marriage equality and transgender
rights in Santiago on June 24.