Costa Rica's Supreme Court Strikes Down Same Sex Marriage Ban

While Donald Trump, his "Christian Taliban" Vice President, Mike Pence, and their Christofascists supporters are working to rescind same sex marriage equality or at a minimum turn it into a "separate but equal" status without the rights and benefits of heterosexual marriage, progress and equality are on the march  across other parts of the Western Hemisphere. Just this week the Supreme Court of Costa Rica struck down that country's ban on same sex marriage that had been orchestrated by the Catholic Church and evangelical Christian groups who believe their rights and beliefs supersede those of others and who rather than loving their neighbors per Christ's admonition, hate anyone who looks different than them or who holds different beliefs.   The Costa Rica ruling follows one earlier this year by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights which will pressure even reactionary Catholic Church bastions like Honduras to strike down religious based discriminatory laws.   Interestingly, Costa Rica's new president, Carlos Alvarado, campaigned on a pro-gay marriage platform and won.  Here are highlights via Reuters:

Costa Rica’s top court has ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a decision seen as a win for gay rights activists and welcomed by the country’s new president.

The Supreme Court gave lawmakers up to 18 months to legalize gay marriage, which has long been opposed by the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical groups in the Central American nation.

President Carlos Alvarado, who came to power earlier this year on a pro-gay rights platform, has publicly advocated same-sex marriage and vowed to implement the ruling.

“Our commitment to full equality remains intact,” he tweeted on Thursday. “We will continue to boost actions that guarantee no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The decision follows a judgment issued in January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the top rights body of the Americas based in Costa Rica.

It said its signatory member countries, including Costa Rica, must grant equal rights to same-sex couples, including the right to marry.

The change is likely to face stiff opposition from conservative and evangelical lawmakers in Costa Rica.

But Supreme Court judge Fernando Castillo told reporters after the ruling that the ban on gay marriage would automatically cease to exist if parliament failed to change the law by the deadline.

Many countries in mainly Catholic Latin America and the Caribbean ban same-sex marriage, but that is slowly changing.

Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay have all dropped their opposition in recent years.  “(To) those who are against this, we say live and let live,” said Castillo. “Many oppose for religious reasons, but the Bible says love your neighbor.”

As same sex marriage continues to spread across South and Central America, the America envisioned by Trump?pence and their toxic and hypocrisy-filled evangelical supporters will increasingly be on the wrong side of history.

Inter-American Human Rights Court Backs Same-Sex Marriage

While the Trump/Pence regime and its Christofascists base continue their war on LGBT Americans and their civil rights, a major ruling has been handed down which could lead to same sex marriage being legalized across South America and parts of the Caribbean.  The ruling was addressed to Costa Rica, but the precedent should trigger a domino effect across the region.  The usual suspects - self-enriching scamvangelis, the leadership of the Roman Catholic Church, and hypocrisy-filled evangelicals will lament the ruling which is another defeat of their efforts to impose their hate and fear based religious beliefs on society and civil governments.  The Court specifically stated that domestic partnerships and similar arrangements short of marriage were not sufficient. The BBC has details on the ruling and the fallout it will trigger.  Here are highlights:

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has ruled that same-sex marriages should be recognised.  The court's rulings apply to countries which have signed the American Convention on Human Rights.

Some of the signatories already recognise same-sex marriages while others recognise same-sex civil unions.

But others, such as Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Paraguay and Peru do not recognise either and will be expected to change their laws.

The court was established by the regional body, the Organization of American States (OAS), and signatories to the Inter-American Convention on Human Rights are bound by its rulings.

The ruling comes as a number of Latin American countries have changed or are debating changing their laws to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The judges said that governments "must recognise and guarantee all the rights that are derived from a family bond between people of the same sex".  They also said that it was inadmissible and discriminatory for a separate legal provision to be established just for same-sex marriages.

The judges demanded that governments "guarantee access to all existing forms of domestic legal systems, including the right to marriage, in order to ensure the protection of all the rights of families formed by same-sex couples without discrimination".

Recognising the difficulty in passing such laws in countries where there is strong opposition to same-sex marriage, they recommended that governments pass temporary decrees until new legislation was brought in.

The judges issued the ruling in response to a motion brought by Costa Rica.  The Central American government asked the court to give its opinion on whether it had an obligation to extend property rights to same-sex couples. The court ruled that it did.

The Costa Rican government also wanted to know whether it should allow transgender people to change their name on their identity documents. Again, the court ruled that it should.  Costa Rica's Vice-President Ana Helena Chacón welcomed the court's ruling, saying it would be adopted "in its totality".

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. 

A Message for Half-Wit Republicans Threatening to Emigrate to Australia

I've commented before on some of the cretins in the GOP who have threatened to leave America if Obama was reelected.  Most of the nations where they claim they'd go to - e.g., Canada, Costa Rica, Australia, etc. - have exactly the types of social policies the GOP says will ruin America.  Above is a reality check for those saying that they would go to Australia.  I guess Fox News doesn't provide much information on the real world.