Members of Chile's Independent Democrat
Union (Union Democrata Independiente) on Thursday will introduce a
constitutional amendment that seeks to define marriage as the union
of a man and a woman, La
Tercera reported.
The move comes 2 days after President
Sebastian Pinera sent to Congress a bill that would grant gay and
lesbian couples many of the rights and benefits of marriage. The
Life Partner Agreement (Acuerdo de Vida en Pareja or AVP) would allow
gay and straight couples who have lived together for more than one
year to enter the union.
The president signed his bill to the
cheers of gay rights activists, but angry leaders of his center-right
coalition, which includes the UDI Party, refused to attend the
signing ceremony. Pinera, who is fulfilling a campaign promise to
back a civil unions bill, told daily El Mercurio last month
that his bill seeks to “protect and safeguard” the civil rights
of couples living outside of marriage and “safeguard the dignity of
those couples, whether of opposite sex or even the same sex.”
The amendment would add to the Chile
Constitution language that bans 2 people of the same sex from
marrying by inserting “in guaranteeing and protecting the family,
only one man and one woman have the right to marry” into the
document.
Supporters insist the amendment is
necessary to soothe the fears of conservatives who view the AVP as a
prelude to the legalization of gay marriage in Chile.