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Costa Rica May Hold Referendum to Decide on Gay Unions
New Referendum Would Challenge Ticos to Form an Opinion on Gay Civil Unions.
costaricapages.com
The controversy over gay rights continues to trouble the Costa Rican legal system and its people. The first anti-constitutional action taken to court was presented in 2003 by gay lawyer, Yashin Castrillo Fernandez. Three years later magistrates for the constitution gathered and voted five to two that there was a lack of clarity regarding the situation for homosexual civil unions. However, they left the decision in the hands of Congress, much to the chagrin of gay rights activists. Castrillo was quoted afterward stating that Costa Rica should be ashamed with the decision as it was a step backward for the country.
It has been nearly two years since this ruling and the bill in question is still in limbo. The bill would permit gay civil unions, granting the same benefits that heterosexual couples receive such as inheritance rights, pensions, tax rights and the like.
However, in the last few months there has been progress of sorts regarding the issue. Though the Ministry of Health supports gay rights in Costa Rica and endorses the need for this group to have the equalities as would be granted by the original bill, the public at large is strongly against it. In July we saw a religious protest against the referendum of nearly 20,000 strong; as Costa Rica is mainly a Catholic country this wasn’t a complete surprise. Yet, the newest disagreement has taken the form of a referendum recently called for by Congress, which states that a majority vote of 1.3 million Costa Ricans is sufficient to either allow or prohibit the civil unions in question.
The problem with this referendum is that gays in Costa Rica represent a minority group; 250,000 adult homosexuals live in Costa Rica as estimated by the Moviemiento Diversidad (Diversity Movement). Thus, an appeal against this referendum has been made in the name of those seeking civil unions, claiming that it is an unfair challenge to have non-gays vote positively on an issue that does not concern them. The Supreme Court of Elections (TSE) will now have to resolve the appeal first before any vote can take place on the referendum.
A most recent and important update that aims to help the chances of gaining a positive result from the referendum is that the Partido Accesibilidad Sin Exclusion (PASE), or loosely translated, the Party for Accessibility without Exclusion, has made a call to action. PASE has enlisted 150 volunteers to gather signatures, with a personal goal of 1,000 signatures a piece. These signatures would provide electoral shelter from the referendum, thus taking the vote out of the majority’s hands. PASE has estimated that it could collect the necessary number of signatures by this coming February.
PASE has even gone so far as to ask for an appointment with Monsignor Hugo Barrantes in order that the Church might be able to assist. However, the last hitch in this plan is that the voting will only stop after the courts have reviewed every signature, meanwhile discussions continue at the Commission of Human Rights, which is conducting a review of the law by a subcommittee who are studying the changes in text of the law.
Once again, those who seek equal rights in Costa Rica will have to wait and there is no telling how long it will take.
For more information related to gay rights in Costa Rica, visit the organization website of “Moviemiento Diversidad”, here: http://www.gay.co.cr/diversidad/ .
Costa Rica May Hold Referendum to Decide on Gay Unions
New Referendum Would Challenge Ticos to Form an Opinion on Gay Civil Unions.
costaricapages.com
The controversy over gay rights continues to trouble the Costa Rican legal system and its people. The first anti-constitutional action taken to court was presented in 2003 by gay lawyer, Yashin Castrillo Fernandez. Three years later magistrates for the constitution gathered and voted five to two that there was a lack of clarity regarding the situation for homosexual civil unions. However, they left the decision in the hands of Congress, much to the chagrin of gay rights activists. Castrillo was quoted afterward stating that Costa Rica should be ashamed with the decision as it was a step backward for the country.
It has been nearly two years since this ruling and the bill in question is still in limbo. The bill would permit gay civil unions, granting the same benefits that heterosexual couples receive such as inheritance rights, pensions, tax rights and the like.
However, in the last few months there has been progress of sorts regarding the issue. Though the Ministry of Health supports gay rights in Costa Rica and endorses the need for this group to have the equalities as would be granted by the original bill, the public at large is strongly against it. In July we saw a religious protest against the referendum of nearly 20,000 strong; as Costa Rica is mainly a Catholic country this wasn’t a complete surprise. Yet, the newest disagreement has taken the form of a referendum recently called for by Congress, which states that a majority vote of 1.3 million Costa Ricans is sufficient to either allow or prohibit the civil unions in question.
The problem with this referendum is that gays in Costa Rica represent a minority group; 250,000 adult homosexuals live in Costa Rica as estimated by the Moviemiento Diversidad (Diversity Movement). Thus, an appeal against this referendum has been made in the name of those seeking civil unions, claiming that it is an unfair challenge to have non-gays vote positively on an issue that does not concern them. The Supreme Court of Elections (TSE) will now have to resolve the appeal first before any vote can take place on the referendum.
A most recent and important update that aims to help the chances of gaining a positive result from the referendum is that the Partido Accesibilidad Sin Exclusion (PASE), or loosely translated, the Party for Accessibility without Exclusion, has made a call to action. PASE has enlisted 150 volunteers to gather signatures, with a personal goal of 1,000 signatures a piece. These signatures would provide electoral shelter from the referendum, thus taking the vote out of the majority’s hands. PASE has estimated that it could collect the necessary number of signatures by this coming February.
PASE has even gone so far as to ask for an appointment with Monsignor Hugo Barrantes in order that the Church might be able to assist. However, the last hitch in this plan is that the voting will only stop after the courts have reviewed every signature, meanwhile discussions continue at the Commission of Human Rights, which is conducting a review of the law by a subcommittee who are studying the changes in text of the law.
Once again, those who seek equal rights in Costa Rica will have to wait and there is no telling how long it will take.
For more information related to gay rights in Costa Rica, visit the organization website of “Moviemiento Diversidad”, here: http://www.gay.co.cr/diversidad/ .
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Tribunal Electoral abre paso a referendo sobre unión gay en Costa Rica
AFP (elnuevodiario.com.ni, 02/10/2008)
El Tribunal Supremo de Elecciones de Costa Rica autorizó recolectar firmas en apoyo a la convocatoria de un referendo sobre una ley que legalizaría las uniones homosexuales, lo que provocó una airada reacción de la comunidad gay que se opone a este recurso.
Los impulsores del referendo tendrán nueve meses para recoger las firmas de al menos unos 140.000 ciudadanos, el 5% del padrón electoral, de conformidad con lo que establece la ley.
De cumplirse la meta, el TSE deberá convocar a la consulta popular, cuyo resultado será de acatamiento obligatorio si al menos participa el 40% de los votantes inscritos.
El proyecto de ley, que es apoyado por diputados de diferentes partidos políticos, reconoce los derechos a herencia, pensiones, seguro social y bienes gananciales de las personas del mismo sexo que viven en unión libre.
Los defensores de la iniciativa aseguran que éstos son derechos humanos elementales y que no implican la homologación de la unión gay con el matrimonio heterosexual.
Sin embargo, un grupo de personas, la mayoría de ellas aglutinadas en el Partido Accesibilidad sin Exclusión (PASE), se oponen a este proyecto de ley y demandan que se someta a una consulta popular, cosa que fue autorizada por el Tribunal Electoral en caso de que se recolecten firmas suficientes.
No obstante el presidente del Movimiento Diversidad, que agrupa a homosexuales, lesbianas y bisexuales, dijo a AFP que "ésta es una decisión lamentable, que llena de vergüenza a Costa Rica", dado que su agrupación se opone a que el proyecto sea votado en un referendo.
"Siendo un país con una imagen exterior de respeto a los derechos humanos, esto es vergonzoso para el país. No podemos andar firmando acuerdos internacionales y luego venir aquí a intimidar a las minorías", expresó el activista.
"No estamos planteando que se nos otorguen beneficios, estamos exigiendo ni más ni menos que se nos respeten los derechos que nos otorgan los acuerdos internacionales y la Constitución Política", agregó.
Araya dijo que la próxima semana presentarán un recurso ante la Sala Constitucional de la Corte Suprema y, en última instancia, recurrirán a tribunales internacionales para tratar de impedir el referendo.
No conjugal visits for gay inmates in Costa Rica: court
Aug 9, 2008
SAN JOSE (AFP) — Homosexual inmates in Costa Rica do not have the right to conjugal visits, the nation's highest court has ruled in a case that could be revisited if Congress passes a bill legalizing gay marriage, newspapers reported.
The Constitutional Tribunal rejected a former inmate's appeal in a lawsuit against prison authorities who suddenly stopped his weekly conjugal visits to his partner, a current inmate he met when both served time in the same jail.
The high court's brief ruling said the prison authorities' decision "falls within the scope of their rights, duties and powers."
The court, however, is still debating another appeal in a similar case that challenges prison rules restricting conjugal visits to heterosexual couples as violating the basic right to sexual freedom of all inmates, including homosexuals.
The high court's ruling could also be affected if Congress votes and passes bill currently under debate that would legalize gay marriage.
Meanwhile, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal is considering a request to hold a referendum on gay marriage so the Costa Rican people can decide on the matter.
Same-sex marriage is legal in six countries -- Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain -- and is a top issue in the United States, where Massachusetts in 2004 became the first US state to allow it, followed by California this year.
Thousands March Against Gay Civil Unions in Costa Rica
7/2008
Costa Rica is known for being gay-friendly, offering gay-only resorts and tourism locales, gay-friendly restaurants and bars, gay clubs, and many other gay-friendly options. However, it seems that homosexual rights end where the money stops: a recently proposed law to allow gay civil unions has been greeted by religious opposition and protests.
Two weeks ago, the Bishops’ Conference of Costa Rica made its formal plea to Costa Rica’s lawmakers, asking them to reject a law that would grant gay civil unions the same legal status as marriage. The bishops explained that, according to Christian law, the family — one mother, one father — is the basis of civil society. Though they respect homosexuals, the Catholic Church cannot agree to view their unions as equal to those between a man and a woman.
In their formal appeal, the bishops warned that politicians “cannot and should not legislate against correct reasoning, because if they pass the law, it would loose moral force.” They continued, saying that “laws favorable to homosexual unions are contrary to correct reasoning because they confer legal guarantees proper to the institution of marriage to unions between people of the same sex. Considering the values in question, the State cannot legalize these unions without failing in its duty to promote and protect an essential institution for the common good, which marriage is.”
Unlike the United States, for example, Costa Rica’s official religion is Catholicism, and there is no forced separation between church and state. Many of the country’s laws are influenced by Christianity and the bishops, though not the country’s lawmakers, have a fair bit of influence in shaping Costa Rica’s morality and morally-based laws, such as gay marriage and abortion, which is also illegal.
The bishops emphasized that they do respect gay rights, but believe that legalizing gay rights — gay marriage — would interfere with the rights of family. “It is necessary above all to reflect on the differences between homosexual behavior as a private phenomenon and public behavior, legally tested, approved and converted into an institution of legal order. The second phenomenon is not only more grave but also of greater and deeper scope, as it could entail changes contrary to the common good of the entire social order… Civil laws are structural principles of man’s life in society, for good or for evil.”
The bishops called for “Catholic lawmakers to speak out and vote against this measure, and to those who do not share our faith, to examine the arguments we have laid out. And in conformity with the rules of correct reasoning, of human nature and of life in society, not to cast their vote for a bill that clearly goes against the common good of the residents of our country.” In response to their words, not only have Catholic lawmakers united, but yesterday, more than 20,000 people congregated on Paseo Colón, marching against gay civil unions.
The protest march began at 8 a.m. in front of the Hospital San Juan de Dios, and finished around noon in La Sabana park. The march was organized by the Costa Rican Evangelical Alliance, bringing together religious Costa Ricans from around the country. “We’re calling out against the law that the Legislative Assembly is considering, to allow for homosexual civil unions,” explained march participant, Reynaldo Salazar.
The bill was first introduced by the homosexual community in 2006, but was placed on the back burner until recently. Only time will tell if Costa Rica will legally recognize gay civil unions, but it promises to be a contentious topic, splitting the country down its religious center. Despite the doubt that Costa Rica will condone legal rights for civil unions, it remains to be a tolerant country with a strong gay population, with budding industry focused on gay Travel to Costa Rica.
No conjugal visits for gay inmates in Costa Rica: court
Aug 9, 2008
SAN JOSE (AFP) — Homosexual inmates in Costa Rica do not have the right to conjugal visits, the nation's highest court has ruled in a case that could be revisited if Congress passes a bill legalizing gay marriage, newspapers reported.
The Constitutional Tribunal rejected a former inmate's appeal in a lawsuit against prison authorities who suddenly stopped his weekly conjugal visits to his partner, a current inmate he met when both served time in the same jail.
The high court's brief ruling said the prison authorities' decision "falls within the scope of their rights, duties and powers."
The court, however, is still debating another appeal in a similar case that challenges prison rules restricting conjugal visits to heterosexual couples as violating the basic right to sexual freedom of all inmates, including homosexuals.
The high court's ruling could also be affected if Congress votes and passes bill currently under debate that would legalize gay marriage.
Meanwhile, the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal is considering a request to hold a referendum on gay marriage so the Costa Rican people can decide on the matter.
Same-sex marriage is legal in six countries -- Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Norway, South Africa and Spain -- and is a top issue in the United States, where Massachusetts in 2004 became the first US state to allow it, followed by California this year.
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