After a bumpy start, the Colombia
Senate will open its debate on a proposed gay marriage bill on
Wednesday, April 17.
Colombia Senate President Roy Barreras
said in an announcement that LGBT community leaders may choose a
spokesman to participate in the debate, the Spanish news agency AFP
reported.
Last week, Barrerras postponed the
April 10 start of the debate after an activist was assaulted during a
congressional forum on the issue organized by Senators Edgar
Espindola and Claudia Wilches, both of whom are opposed to marriage
equality.
(Related: Colombia
Senate shuts down debate on gay marriage after altercation.)
The measure, which is sponsored by
Senator Armando Benedetti, was approved by the First Commission of
the Senate last December.
The nation's Constitutional Court in
2011 ordered Congress to approve a law recognizing gay couples before
June 20, 2013. If a law is not approved by that date, then “gay
couples can go to a notary and with the same solemnity of a
heterosexual marriage enter a union similar to one between a
heterosexual couple.”