Same-Sex Marriage Bill Clears Chilean House
- By
- Carlos Santoscoy
- | November 24, 2021
Same-sex marriage inched closer to reality in Chile after lawmakers in the House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a marriage bill.
The measure passed with a 101-30 vote with two lawmakers abstaining.
Tuesday's vote comes roughly three months after the bill cleared the Chilean Senate with a 28-14 vote.
The bill now heads back to the Senate for a final vote.
In June, outgoing President Sebastian Piñera backed the marriage bill during an annual address to lawmakers.
Piñera served as president from 2010 to 2014. He returned to the office in 2018.
During his first term, Piñera, a conservative, introduced a civil unions bill for gay and straight couples who have lived together for more than one year. In backing civil unions, Piñera snuffed a burgeoning campaign for same-sex marriage in Chile. His bill became law in 2015.
In 2017, former President Michelle Bachelet, the first woman to hold the Chilean presidency, introduced a same-sex marriage bill.
Gay and lesbian couples can marry in neighboring Argentina. Other South American nations with same-sex marriage include Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Uruguay.