Gain for gay couples in Colombia

Doesn't affect me personally, but I see no reason why these people shouldn't have all the rights they deserve. Good to see further progress on this front.

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Gain for gay couples in Colombia
Oct 6, 2007 12:09 PM

Gay couples in Colombia won the same social security rights as their straight counterparts in a court ruling called a major advance for homosexuals in the conservative Roman Catholic country.

In a decision embraced by rights groups but opposed by the church, the Constitutional Court said it extended health benefits long enjoyed by heterosexuals in common law marriages to same-sex couples.

The first nationwide law of its kind in Latin America, the measure allows homosexuals to include their partners in their health insurance plans.

A bill granting the benefits was passed by Congress in June but thrown out when a group of senators used a procedural vote to change their minds on the measure.

Included in the defeated measure was a provision to extend common law pension benefits to gay couples.

"It looks like the only way for us to enact this last provision will be through another appeal to the Constitutional Court. Congress had the opportunity to do it but a small group of senators sabotaged the bill at the last minute," said rights activist Virgilio Barco.
Source: Reuters

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/536641/1391301

By juancegomez on Oct 5, 2007, 22:20 in Friendly Talkzone.

RussianFred says on Oct 5, 2007, 23:20:

I was shocked to see so may gays in Colombia. I thought they would kill them. Go for Colombia. Is being gay a choice, natural or a disease? I think it's neither, it happen because of your life experiences.

Annual Drug Deaths: Tobacco: 395,000, Alcohol: 125,000, 'Legal' Drugs: 38,000, Illegal Drug Overdoses: 5,200, Marijuana: 0. Considering government subsidies of tobacco, just what is our government protecting us from in the drug war?--Ralph Nader