First Same-Sex Couples Wed in Chile
Pictured: newlyweds Jaime Nazar (left) and Javier SilvaJavier Silva and Jaime Nazar have become the first same-sex couple to marry legally in Chile.The men wed Thursday in a civil ceremony in a Santiago suburb as the nation’s marriage equality law, approved last year, went into effect.“Being the first couple to get married in Chile for us is an honor, something to be proud of,” Silva said after the ceremony, according to Reuters. “We did it!
It’s something we didn’t think could happen.”The two have been together for seven years and have two children. They had been in a civil union for three years.
Civil unions in Chile conferred many of the rights of marriage, but some were lacking, including the right to legally adopt children.“Now our children have the same rights [as other families] and they will be able to have, we hope, a better future, that they will not be discriminated against for having two parents who love each other,” Silva said.
Their children were present for the wedding.Two other same-sex couples married in Chile Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.
