Costa Rica Set to Be First Central American Country to Legalize Gay Marriage

By: Marcus Day

New York— In August of 2018, Costa Rica became the first Central American country to legalize gay marriage after one of the nation’s courts ruled that the constitution did not authorize lawmakers to block the practice. On May 26th of this year, the ruling is set to go in effect.

However, a cohort of socially conservative politicians is attempting to delay the implementation, citing that the COVID-19 epidemic has prevented them from fully reviewing the proposal. 

The tide towards gay marriage started to turn in late 2017 when the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that all member-states must legalize marriage equality, including Costa Rica.  

When Costa Rica’s constitutional court ruled in 2018 that the country must abide by the former ruling and legalize gay marriage, they gave legislators 18 months to formalize the decision into law. 

More than twenty lawmakers from multiple parties are hoping to delay the ruling for another 18 months, inciting outrage from the country’s left and LGBTQ activists. 

Tensions in the country are high. Members of parliament recently came to blows when David Gourzong of the National Liberation Party punched a member of the opposition, Reuters reported. 

Although only 35% of Costa Ricans support gay marriage, many claim the 2018 election of an outwardly pro-gay-marriage presidential candidate acted as a referendum for the issue. 

Alvarado Quesada, a 38-year-old former cabinet minister and successful novelist won the presidential election against conservative pastor and singer Fabricio Alvarado Muñoz by a strong 20%. Alvarado Muñoz gained recognition for his opposition to gay-marriage and other high-profile progressive issues. Despite the perceived popularity of these opinions, Alvarado Quesada trounced Muñoz in the April election, making him the youngest elected president in the country’s history.

Costa Rica has been the first country to heed the call for nationalized marriage equality by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, though 18 of 31 Mexican states allow gay marriages to take place.

Though most other Central American countries remain conservative on many issues, Costa Rica is one of the more progressive countries in the hemisphere. It hasn’t had a standing army since 1948, it boasts strong and effective environmental regulations, and a remarkably high human development index relative to the country’s income. 

Although Costa Rica is alone in Central America, gay couples are starting to receive more rights in several states in South America. Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and Ecuador are all actively supporting gay marriage. 

The lawmakers in Costa Rica would need 38 votes in the 57-member assembly in order to move to the next step in postponing the ruling’s implementation. At this moment, the conglomeration of the conservative leaders does not hold the necessary votes to move the debate forward.