Venezuela: Same Sex Partnerships on Fast Tract

As the USA continues to lag behind a number of other nations in granting full equality to LGBT citizens, it now finds itself on the verge of being even less progressive than Hugo Chávez' Venezuela. Increasingly, it seems to me that the phrase "with freedom and liberty for all" is no longer worth the parchment on which the words were originally written by the Founders. Instead, it is liberty and freedom for those the homophobic majority likes - at least for the time being. As my prior post indicates, I have serious concerns for the future if a mere majority is allowed to strip legal rights from an unpopular minority. Here are some details from Blabbendo:

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Romelia Matute, a member of Venezuela's National Assembly and Deputy of the Assembly's Family Commission [pictured at above left] , has announced that the Venezuelan legislature is well on its way to approving a bill that would grant same-sex couples legal recognition, including shared patrimony and inheritance rights.

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As reported on Friday in Spain's ABC, Matute stated that "the report on the 'Organic Bill for Gender Equality' is almost ready for a second - and final - [legislative] debate," adding that it would include language allowing "the union between two people of the same gender" in the form of something she called "co-inhabiting associations".

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She [Matute] said that the government would recognize "the joint-living associations formed by two persons of the same gender, on mutual accord and free agreement, with the full legal and patrimonial effect". Matute also said that the bill would address transgender issues: "Whoever changes their gender through quirurgical means, or any other means, exercising their freedom, has the right to their identity, and to drafting or changing all documents associated with their identification".