Bolivia recognizes same-sex marriage

For the first time in Bolivia, a same-sex marriage has been officially registered.

Fabiana Banzer and Scarlett Rocha became the first same-sex couple to enter into a civil marriage in Bolivia. The ceremony took place on August 7 in Santa Cruz after a legal battle that lasted almost four years.

The couple applied to register their marriage on October 12, 2022, with the support of the LGBTQI+ organization IGUAL Bolivia. This was followed by a long administrative process and two court cases aimed at protecting their constitutional rights. As a result, the state recognized their marriage and granted it legal protection.

Banzer wrote: "After three years and ten months of legal struggle, we were finally able to enter into a civil marriage as two women."

Banzer and Rocha also cited an advisory opinion of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in their lawsuit. According to this opinion, same-sex couples should have access to the same mechanisms for legal family recognition, including marriage.

But in Bolivia, same-sex marriage is not recognized at the national level. Article 63 of the constitution defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman. As a result, the decision in the Banzer and Rocha case only applied to that particular couple. However, their case could pave the way for future lawsuits by other same-sex couples. 

Ukraine has previously recognized same-sex marriage between two men. Zoryan Kis and Timur Levchuk have been together for more than a decade. They married in the United States in 2021, but Ukraine has not recognized their relationship. Then, in February of this year, the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld a landmark ruling recognizing the relationship of a same-sex couple as a “de facto marriage,” the first time the country’s highest court has upheld such legal recognition.

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