Same-sex marriage

==== Inter-American Court of Human Rights ====
[[File:María Alexandra Chávez y Michelle Pamela Avilés - Primer matrimonio entre dos mujeres en Ecuador.jpg|thumb|right|Alexandra Chávez and Michelle Avilés, the first same-sex couple to marry in Ecuador]]
On 8 January 2018, the [[Inter-American Court of Human Rights]] (IACHR) ruled that the [[American Convention on Human Rights]] mandates and requires the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The landmark ruling was fully binding on [[Same-sex marriage in Costa Rica|Costa Rica]] and set binding precedent in the other signatory countries. The Court recommended that governments issue temporary decrees recognizing same-sex marriage until new legislation is brought in. Among states without same-sex marriage, the ruling applies to [[LGBT rights in Barbados|Barbados]], [[LGBT rights in Bolivia|Bolivia]], the [[LGBT rights in the Dominican Republic|Dominican Republic]], [[LGBT rights in El Salvador|El Salvador]], [[LGBT rights in Guatemala|Guatemala]], [[LGBT rights in Haiti|Haiti]], [[LGBT rights in Honduras|Honduras]], [[LGBT rights in Nicaragua|Nicaragua]], [[LGBT rights in Panama|Panama]], [[LGBT rights in Paraguay|Paraguay]], [[LGBT rights in Peru|Peru]] and [[LGBT rights in Suriname|Suriname]].{{cn|date=December 2023}} The Court said that governments "must recognize and guarantee all the rights that are derived from a family bond between people of the same sex". They also said that it was inadmissible and discriminatory for a separate legal provision to be established (such as [[civil union]]s) instead of same-sex marriage.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 January 2018 |title=Major Advance for Marriage Equality and Gender Identity Rights in Latin America |work=San Francisco Bay Times |url=http://sfbaytimes.com/major-advance-marriage-equality-gender-identity-rights-latin-america/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180129141726/http://sfbaytimes.com/major-advance-marriage-equality-gender-identity-rights-latin-america/ |archive-date=29 January 2018 |access-date=13 April 2018 |publisher=Sfbaytimes.com}}</ref> The ruling has directly led to the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in [[Costa Rica]] and [[Ecuador]].{{cn|date=December 2023}}