Chile: Civil Unions bill on the way

From the Advocate: Chilean newspaper La Tercera reported today that the nation's government is considering legislation that would legally recognize same-sex civil unions.

According to the Santiago-based paper, the bill — which could be presented to Congress as early as next week — would “grant legal rights to gay couples who have lived together for more than one year.”

Despite the heated debate the issue has caused in the predominantly Catholic country, last month Chilean president Sebastian Pinera was quoted by the newspaper El Mercurio as saying he wanted to safeguard “the dignity of those couples, whether of the opposite or even the same sex.”

If the legislation passes, Chile will be the fifth South American country to legalize same-sex civil unions, joining Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay. Argentina offers marriage rights to gay couples.

Chilean President to send parliament Civil Unions bill

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera has announced that he will forward to parliament a bill that would grant both heterosexual and homosexual couples living outside of marriage the ability to access a form of civil unions granting them many of the same rights as marriage.

Pinera announced his intentions in an interview published Saturday by daily El Mercurio.

The conservative lawmaker said his bill seeks to “protect and safeguard” the civil rights of couples living outside of marriage and “safeguard the dignity of those couples, whether of opposite sex or even the same sex.”

This comes just one week after Chili's largest LGBT rights group Movimiento Chileno de Minorias Sexuales called for a national march for marriage equality that was designed to get the President's attention.

Majority public support for legal recognition of same-sex partners in Chili has been strong since 2004. However, same-sex marriage still polls considerably lower than civil unions.