Chilean lawmakers on Tuesday gave final
approval to a bill that extends marriage rights to gay and lesbian
couples.
According to The New York Times,
the bill cleared both chambers with overwhelming majorities.
Chile will become the 31st
nation with marriage equality.
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 couples can marry in neighboring
Argentina. Other South American nations with same-sex marriage
include Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Uruguay.