Uruguay marriage bill passes, will be made law

Uruguay will be the next country to implement marriage equality after its Lower House voted 92-71 to pass a same-sex marriage bill.

The country’s president, José Mujica, has already indicated that he will sign it into law.

Just last week Uruguay’s Senate approved the bill, the second vote in favour of the legislation after the Lower House passed the initial measure in December last year.

In approving the bill, international human rights organisation Human Rights Watch said Uruguay had moved to guarantee marriage equality and diminish discrimination.

“Uruguayan senators made the right decision by allowing same-sex couples to marry,” Human Rights Watch LGBT advocacy director Boris Dittrich said.

“Final approval will enable gays and lesbians in Uruguay to marry the person they love and will strengthen the fundamental rights of everyone in Uruguay to equality and non-discrimination.”

The Senate bill included some modifications to the original, including a measure to raise the minimum age for marriage to 16 for everyone, instead of the present age 12 for girls and 14 for boys.

The modified bill went back to the Lower House on Wednesday night so the amendments could be voted on.

The first same-sex marriages in the country are likely to take place in July or August.

Other Latin American countries to have introduced marriage equality include Argentina – where the country’s congress approved a marriage equality law in 2010. Same-sex marriage also became legal in Mexico City in the same year. In 2011, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples were entitled to partnership rights through a civil union status. Some Brazilian states – including the largest, São Paulo – have since begun performing civil marriages for same-sex couples.

Recent polls have show a majority of Uruguayans are in favour of legalising same-sex marriage.