ABOVE: Ecuador’s presidential palace in the country’s capital of Quito, Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers.
Ecuador last week became the latest country in which same-sex couples can legally marry.
Media reports indicate Alexandra Chávez and Mishelle Avilés on July 18 became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in the country when they exchanged vows in the city of Guayaquil.
Ecuador’s Constitutional Court on June 12 ruled in favor of marriage rights for same-sex couples after it heard the cases of two men who sought the right to marry in the country. Chávez and Avilés married after the rulings were published in Ecuador’s Official Register.
Colombia, which borders Ecuador, is among the other South American countries in which same-sex couples can legally marry.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2018 issued a landmark ruling that recognizes same-sex marriage and other rights in the Western Hemisphere. Ecuador is among the countries in the Americas that recognize the tribunal.
