Maduro Asks National Assembly to Consider Same-Sex Marriage

Regarding the support given by Pope Francis to civil unions between same-sex couples in the documentary "Francesco," released this Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival, the President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, entrusted the next National Assembly (NA), which will be elected on December 6, with the discussion of the issue of equal marriage. 

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The Head of State said during a meeting with the candidates belonging to the "Dario Vivas" campaign team that he had friends and acquaintances that were "very happy" with what the Supreme Pontiff expressed.

In the film, Pope Francis expressed that "homosexuals have the right to belong to a family. They are children of God and have the right to a family (...) What we have to create is a law of civil union so that they are legally covered. I have fought for this."

In his remarks, the National President added, "I leave the task of LGBTI marriage to the next National Assembly."

There is currently no law at the federal level in Venezuela that recognizes unions for homosexual couples, such as same-sex marriage or civil unions.

The Constitution protects marriage between men and women (although it does not prohibit same-sex marriage). In contrast, the Organic Law of the Civil Registry in Article 118 and the Civil Code in Article 44 establish, respectively, stable de facto unions and marriage as unions between a man and a woman.

The Pope’s comments were the most explicit language he has used to date regarding the LGBTQ community's rights. While same-sex marriage is not currently legal in heavily Roman Catholic Venezuela, laws and court decisions in other South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil and Colombia have legalized same-sex marriage in recent years.