Santiago, Chile, Dec 9, 2021 / 10:53 am
Chile’s National Congress passed Dec. 7 a bill legalizing same-sex marriage that in June received the backing of President Sebastián Piñera.
The bill was first introduced in 2017 by then-President Michelle Bachelet, but became stalled in Congress. During her administration a civil unions law was passed, but it did not include adoption by same sex partners, which the newly passed bill provides for.
The same-sex marriage bill was recently taken up again and rushed through the legislature on the basis of “urgency” by Piñera, whose term ends in March 2022. It could be promulgated at any time.
The bill was in the third stage of the legislative process and was reactivated after the Nov. 21 first round presidential elections, in which José Antonio Kast of the Christian Social Front came in first, with Gabriel Boric of the Apruebo Dignidad alliance in second place. The two will face each other in a Dec. 19 runoff.