Colombia High Court Upholds Same-Sex Partner Rights

The whackos of the far Christian and GOP right like to pontificate that the USA is first in all realms and look with disdain upon foreigners and other cultures. Despite such jingoism, the reality is that the world is moving on and the USA is failing behind in many ways, including in terms of its crumbling infrastructure and its failure to provide equal rights and legal protections to all its citizens. In yet another example that the words "land of the free" apply increasingly to other nations, Colombia’s Constitutional Court has upheld a lower court ruling that the government must provide same-sex partners with all of the rights that opposite-sex couples have. Meanwhile, in this country we do not even have full freedom of religion since Christianists and Mormons get to dictate which couples have legal rights and which ones do not. Here are some highlights from 365gay.com:

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(Bogota) Colombia’s Constitutional Court has upheld a lower court ruling that the government must provide same-sex partners with all of the rights that opposite-sex couples have. Last year, LGBT rights groups went to court seeking health and other government benefits. Last April, a lower court ruled that same-sex couples are implicitly covered under the constitution’s guarantee of equal rights for all citizens.

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The ruling also said that to exclude same-sex partners would violate the principle of non-discrimination and human dignity as the expression of personal autonomy, protected by international law. The Constitutional Court decision means same-sex couples will have pension, survivor and property rights.

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Colombia’s Congress then passed legislation giving same-sex couples most of the same rights as opposite-sex married couples, but the bill died in a procedural move by conservative senators. The reversal came after the powerful Catholic Church in Colombia warned lawmakers they were violating Vatican policy and could be denied the sacraments.

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All legal progress made in the last five years in Colombia has been accomplished through decisions by the Colombian Constitutional Court.