https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/12/12/bolivia-approves-first-same-sex-union-following-legal
Bolivia has just recently approved a same sex union after over two years battling in court. After David Aruquipa and Guido Montano weren’t allowed to register their union by Bolivian authorities, they decided to take their case to court. These authorities said Bolivian law didn’t permit marriage between members of the same sex. The couple argued that while Bolivia doesn’t permit their union, the prohibition of it violated international law and allowed discrimination under Bolivian law. The court agreed with this, and established that Bolivian law must align with the Constitution’s principles of equality, and additionally maintain consistency with international human rights laws. This specific aspect has sparked the interest of the Human Rights Organization.
In South America, same-sex marriage is only legal in five countries and three jurisdictions, and civil unions are legal only in Chile. With recent advancements in marriage equality around the world, these numbers are low. However, Latin American culture is typically very traditional, and Latin America also holds some of the highest rates of violence against members of the LGBTQ+ community. This means that although Bolivia didn’t legalize same-sex marriage, the allowing of Aruquipa and Montano’s civil union was a step forward for the country. If this same precedent is carried forward, it could lead towards the legalization of same-sex marriage of the country, which would be great progress for the region as a whole.
This topic can be related to what we’ve discussed in class by analyzing the issue from a realist perspective on a regional level. The lack of same-sex marriage legalization in Latin America stems from a stubborn and traditional mindset, and a place of selfishness. Same-sex marriage isn’t a prevalent issue to many politicians or governments, as many of them are unaffected by the inequality and therefore don’t care to change it. This shows the selfish mindset of governments throughout Latin America, as they choose to ignore the suffering of their citizens as fixing it isn’t in their immediate self interest.