Same-sex couples are allowed to adopt children in Colombia

The discussion of the relevant resolution, which in Columbia has been already called historic, lasted several hours in the court. Six members of the court supported this document but two voted against it.

“A person’s sexual orientation or gender are not in and of themselves indicative of a lack of moral, physical or mental suitability to adopt,” said Maria Victoria Calle Correa – the chief justice of the Constitutional Court.

According to the words of the chairman of the court, excluding gay couples from a list of possible parents “limits children’s right to a family”.

The Colombian Institute for Family Welfare claimed that this decision does not change the process of adoption. The institution, regardless of the gender of applicants, follows its standard practice, for which the people’s eligibility for children adoption is determined by seminars, meetings and visits to the parents.

Until 1981 homosexuality in Colombia was considered as a criminal offense. Since 2007, the decisions of the Constitutional Court claimed that the same-sex couples should have the same rights as heterosexual couples have – that is the right to make a partnership.

In 2013, Congress rejected a proposal to legalize gay marriage, and a year later gay couples were allowed to adopt children, but under the condition that one member of the pair is the biological parent of the child. Now, the new court decision removes this limitation.

LGBT activists welcomed the court’s decision, but the opponents of this resolution promised to make an appeal.