It's been a great week for LGBTIQ+ rights.
First Bhutan decriminalised homosexuality, then Botswana decriminalised homosexuality - and now, in a landmark ruling, Ecuador has legalised same-sex marriage.
The country had a historic win today when the small South American nation's Constitutional Court (the country's highest court) ruled 5-to-4 in favour of legalising same-sex marriage, meaning Ecuador will soon join a growing number of Latin American nations - including Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Uruguay - to have taken the progressive step.
According to The Washington Post, Efraín Soria, president of the Ecuadorian Equality Foundation, said the victory was “a joy for our entire community and Ecuador."
Soria added that he would immediately begin planning his wedding to partner Xavier Benalcázar, with the pair having been in a civil union since 2012.
Yahoo reports that lawyer Christian Paula, who has been working for the Patka Foundation to provide legal advice for same-sex couples in Ecuador, said: "It means that Ecuador is more egalitarian."
He continued: "It is more just than yesterday, that it recognises that human rights must be for all people without discrimination."
Congratulations to Ecuador!
