LBGT Quito

ECUADOR

LBGTQuito

Ecuador’s highest court ruled in favor of recognizing same-sex marriage in a landmark decision for the strongly Catholic South American country.

Quito’s constitutional court ruled five-to-four in favor of revising the country’s current marriage legislation, arguing that it was discriminatory and unconstitutional, and that same-sex couples should be allowed equal rights, CNN reported.

The four dissenting judges said the court should leave enacting changes to the country’s constitution to the government.

The country’s National Assembly must still change the laws that govern marriages, but a constitutional lawyer told CNN that the court’s verdict is binding and will allow same-sex couples to marry as soon as the decision is formally communicated to local government offices.

The court will do that within 10 days, after which the National Assembly is duty bound to pass a bill revising the current law that defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.

“The judges decided to be on the right side of history,” said activist Pamela Troya, who had been denied a license to marry her partner, Gaby Correa, in 2013.