translated from Spanish: Movilh values TC decision rejecting homosexuality as a cause of culpable divorce

The Homosexual Integration and Liberation Movement (Movilh) announced that the Constitutional Court (TC) declared as contrary to Magna Carta the cause of divorce by homosexuality, “which is a historical fact, which allows us to move towards the definitive term of this old, harmful and homophobic law”. The declaration of unconstitutionality of the cause of divorce guilty by homosexuality, established in article 54 of Law 19.947 on Civil Marriage, had the favorable votes of the ministers María Luisa Brahn, Gonzalo García, Nelson Pozo, Cristián Letelier, Rodrigo Pica, María Pía Silva, while against the magistrates Ivan Aróstica, Juan José Romero, José Ignacio Vásquez, Miguel Angel Fernández, Although the sentence still this stage of writing, the spokesman of the Movilh, Oscar Rementería, argued that “we know and have the conviction that one of the reasons to declare unconstitutional the cause of divorce blamed for homosexuality, is that it is a homophobic norm that violates the equality of all people. And at this point, the TC was explicit and clear.” The case, of which the Movilh took part through an Amicus Curiae, began after the judge of the Family Court of Coquimbo, María Antonieta Santibáñez Rodríguez, presented to the TC on June 23, 2020 an inapplicability request, after it was known that a man had filed for divorce with a lesbian woman. Section 54 of Law 19.947 on Civil Marriage, it is established that “divorce may be sued by one of the spouses” in the event of “attacking life or serious ill-treatment”, “abandonment”, “serious and repeated transgression of the duties of coexistence, relief and fidelity”, “conviction of crimes or crimes”, “alcoholism or drug addiction” and “attempt to prostitute the other spouses or children”. The same list of culpable divorce cases mentions “homosexual behavior.” In his Amicus Curiae before the TC, the Movilh argued that “since infidelity is also a cause of culpable divorce, it is unnecessary, in addition to stigmatizing, to speak of “homosexual conduct”, in no case is reference to heterosexuality”Rementería explained that article 54 of Law 19.947 “is one of the three explicitly homophobic rules existing in Chile, together with Code 365 of the Penal Code, which establishes different sex consent ages for homosexuals and heterosexuals, and article 102 of the Civil Code, which prevents same-sex marriage.” Today, we take a historic step, as progress is made towards the definitive repeal of one of the three homophobic rules in force in Chile and, as a result, homosexuals agree to a better level playing field,” he concluded.



Original source in Spanish

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