Costa Rican Court has Recognised Central America’s First Same-Sex Civil Union

After having suffered a major defeat - an out right rejection might be a better description - in Ireland on May 22, 2015, the Roman Catholic Church has seemingly suffered another defeat in respect to legal recognition of same sex couples.  This time the defeat occurred in Costa Rica where a regional court upheld a same sex civil union despite the strenuous opposition by the Church.  Ignorance is the principal ally of the Church as it continues to foist its 13th century "natural law" bullshit on the ignorant and gullible.  Unfortunately, even Central America is increasingly educated and people have access to non-censored information.  Note how a Catholic bishop supports second class citizenship for gays.  The Guardian looks at this defeat for the Church.  Here are excerpts:

A regional Costa Rican court has recognised Central America’s first same-sex civil union, despite opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative politicians, local media reported on Wednesday.

The decision follows a same-sex couple’s two-year legal battle seeking the right to a state welfare credit, but it does not extend to other gay couples, whose cases will be decided individually, a lawyer said, as newspaper La Nacion reported.

Conservative lawmakers told La Nacion they were evaluating whether the decision contravenes family law, potentially leaving it open to appeal to a higher court.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen now since it was such a long process. It took us by surprise and it’s a great victory ... not just for us but for the whole country,” one of the couple, Cristian Zamora, was quoted as saying by the CRhoy news website.

The court’s decision angered Jose Francisco Ulloa, the bishop of the city of Cartago.

“I agree that people with this special inclination have rights like any citizen, but these are never equal to a normal, natural marriage, like we have in Costa Rica between a man and a woman,” he said.

Leftist president Luis Guillermo Solis’ attempts to legalise civil unions for all gay couples have been held up for months in the country’s legislative assembly by conservative political opponents.

Solis is an enthusiastic gay rights supporter and raised a gay pride flag at the presidential palace to mark the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia a month after his election in 2014.

The promotion of ignorance, bigotry and discrimination have been the hallmark of the Catholic Church for centuries.  It is encouraging to see the Church's toxic influence dying even in Central America, a region to which I have family historic ties since my mother was born in and a citizen of Honduras.