OAS commission urges Panama to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has urged Panama to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples. The Panamanian Supreme Court in a March 1 press release noted six judges in February upheld the country’s prohibition of marriage for same-sex couples.
The commission in a March 24 press release said the decision “has a negative impact on the principles of equality and non-discrimination by excluding the possibility of same-sex marriages and the recognition of those celebrated abroad.” Enrique Jelenszky, a Panamanian citizen who married his husband, John Winstanley, in the U.K., in 2016 filed a lawsuit that sought recognition of their marriage.
Álvaro Levy and his husband, Ken Gilberg, who is from the U.S., brought a second marriage equality lawsuit the same year. Supreme Court Justice Luis Ramón Fábrega in 2017 heard arguments in the two cases that have been combined into one.
Human Rights Watch notes three additional same-sex couples have brought marriage equality cases in Panama. Neighboring Costa Rica and Colombia are among the jurisdictions in Latin America that have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.
