Pamela Troya and Gabriela Correa, a long-term couple and prominent same-sex marriage activists in Ecuador, have finally married.
According to local news site El Comercio, the couple said 'I do' at the same civil registry they were denied by when they first tried to tie the knot back in 2013. The incident motivated the pair to become actively involved in the push for same-sex marriage in the country. Determined to see a change, Troya became a spokesperson for the official campaign for marriage equality in Ecuador, MCivil Igualitario, which finally won marriage equality in June of this year
“We have returned the same day, at the same time, to say ‘I do,’” Troya said, according to El Comercio.
Ecuadorian site Plan V reports that during the ceremony, which included police guard, the brides thanked “the lawyers, academics, activists, journalists, friends and family who supported their six-year struggle.”
The report continued: “They recalled the attacks and homophobic teasing on social networks, malicious criticism and anonymous comments from people who oppose Ecuador being a more fair and inclusive country."
Following a 5-to-4 ruling in the country's highest court, Ecuador is one of a handful of Latin American nations - Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Uruguay - to have legalised same-sex marriage.