A gay couple raising two young children
were the first to marry in Chile on Thursday after a same-sex
marriage law took effect.
Javier Silva and Jaime Nazar were the
first to marry, Reuters reported. The men have been together for
seven years and entered a civil union three years ago.
“Being the first couple to get
married in Chile for us is an honor, something to be proud of,”
Silva told reporters. “We did it! It's something we didn't think
could happen.”
“Now our children have the same
rights [as heterosexual families] and they will be able to have, we
hope, a better future, that they will not be discriminated against
for having two parents who love each other,” he
added.
Former President Michelle Bachelet, the
first woman to hold the Chilean presidency and the current U.N. high
commissioner for human rights, introduced a same-sex marriage bill in
2017, roughly two years after the nation introduced civil unions for
gay and straight couples who have lived together for more than one
year.
Marriage legislation returned to the
spotlight with the support of former President Sebastian Piñera,
who originally backed civil unions. Piñera
signed the marriage law last year.
Nazar said that the legislation showed
Chile had “a promising future as a country.”
Gay couples can marry in neighboring
Argentina. Other South American nations with same-sex marriage
include Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, and Uruguay.