Same-sex couples will be able to go to the altar in Costa Rica, after equal marriage was approved by Supreme Court on Tuesday.
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This way, this nation becomes the first Central American country to do so.
Even when celebrations were canceled due to the restrictions faced due to the coronavirus pandemic, Costa Rica's public television networks and online platforms broadcasted a special program about LGBT rights.
"This change will bring about a significant social and cultural transformation, allowing thousands of people to marry," President Carlos Alvarado said on air.
Costa Rica's rights campaigners waited a long time for this decision to be taken. In August 2018 the nation Supreme Court gave Parliament a year and a half to amend the laws that banned gay marriages, but it's until now that they can see results.
"Costa Rica is celebrating today: marriage equality has become a reality in the country – the first one in Central America," tweeted the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA).
Even though in 2018 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) addressed to the signatory countries of the American Convention on Human Rights the recommendation that nations "should recognize and guarantee all the rights that derive from a family relationship between people of the same sex," so far Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, and Ecuador, are the only nations from that list to take the first step.