Chilean lawmakers approve same-sex marriage

Dec. 7 (UPI) -- Lawmakers in Chile voted to legalize same-sex marriage Tuesday, a landmark victory for gay rights in the Latin American nation.

The measure was passed by majorities in both chambers of the National Congress, and will allow same-sex couples parental rights, which was previously not possible under the Civil Union act.

The measure will be signed into law as the nation awaits a runoff presidential vote between far-right congressman Jose Antonio Kast, who has said that "society works best with heterosexual couples" and former student protest leader Gabriel Boric on Dec. 19.

"Marriage equality is a ray of sunshine, a bit of hope," said Isabel Amor, director of the gay rights organization Iguales, adding that the nation's LGBTQ community is in a "very fragile state" facing the threat of a Kast presidency.

Kast said he disagreed with the law during a meeting with evangelical leaders Tuesday afternoon.

"We respect democracy, but that doesn't mean we change our convictions," he said. "For us, marriage is between a man and a woman."

Chile is the 31st nation to legalize same-sex marriage and the sixth in South America, alongside Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador.

The change comes amid a political upheaval in the country, which voted to rewrite its constitution last year following protests.

"The political class had been deaf, blind and mute regarding a series of matters on which civil society and ordinary Chileans had advanced," Rolando Jimenez, one of the leaders of Movilh, a leading gay rights organization in Chile, said.