Ecuador will have its first gay
marriage this Friday, December 10.
Joey Hateley and Hugo Vera will
exchange vows in Quito during a civil ceremony officiated by
Councilor Norman Wray, the president of the Metropolitan Commission
on Gender (Comision Metropolitana de Genero), according to the
website proyecto-transgenero.org.
Hateley, the artistic director of
TransAction Theatre Company, transitioned from a woman to man, but is
legally considered female. The British-born thirty-five-year-old
Hateley and Vera, a twenty-three year-old Ecuadorian, are considered
a gay couple and can only marry due to that technicality.
“The couple Hateley-Vera are
considered a gay couple like any other, with the difference that they
can marry and procreate,” the group wrote in its announcement.
According to Hateley's profile posted
on Facebook, he is an MA graduate from Lancaster University and is
currently teaching at Manchester University.
“Joey has performed and worked with
trans adults and vulnerable young people in Australia, Belgium,
Bolivia, Canada, Ecuador, India, Namibia, Peru, Quito, South Africa,
Sweden, Thailand, USA and the UK,” the profile reads.
The couple is expected to marry at 3PM
at the Civil Registry office.