The Uruguay Senate (Camara de
Senadores) is expected to vote on a gay marriage bill on Wednesday.
The measure cleared the nation's lower
house earlier this month.
According to the AFP, the Senate, which
is currently in parliamentary recess, will convene a special meeting
to discuss a dozen bills, including one which states that “marriage
is the permanent union between two persons of the same or opposite
sex.”
The measure is expected to clear the
chamber, and President Jose Mujican has said he'll sign the bill into
law.
The “Marriage Equality Law” seeks
to modify some 20 articles of the Civil Code, including whose surname
goes first when children are named.
“It's an issue that will generate
confusion in a society that has forever taken the father's name,”
Deputy Anibal Gloodtdofsky told the AP. “But these changes in
society have to be accepted.”
Uruguay currently recognizes gay
couples with civil unions. After a couple has lived in a “stable
relationship” for 5 years, they may petition the government for the
recognition.
If the marriage law is approved,
Uruguay would become only the second South American country after
Argentina to legalize marriage equality.
(Related: Mexican
state Oaxaca to legalize gay marriage.)