Costa Rica made history on Tuesday by becoming the first Central American country to legalize marriage equality.
At 12:01 a.m. local time, Daritza Araya Arguedas, 24, and Angela Quirós Castillo, 29, became the first same-sex couple to tie the knot after Costa Rica’s constitutional court ruled that laws preventing LGBTQ+ partners from marrying were in violation of its 1948 constitution. The August 2018 ruling gave Costa Rica 18 months to pass equal marriage legalization or same-sex marriage would automatically become legal.
The historic court order affirmed a similar ruling from the Inter-American Court of Human Rights earlier the same year.
Although nearly two dozen social conservatives in the Legislative Assembly attempted to halt marriage equality in Costa Rica, the effort failed, meaning that same-sex marriage became legal on May 26. Dozens of couples joined Araya and Quirós by getting hitched, with many ceremonies broadcast on national television. Weddings were sparsely attended due to social distancing guidelines amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
As NBC News was the first to report, Araya and Quirós’ nuptials took place in the town of San Isidro de Herida, just over an hour’s drive from the capital of San Jose. The officiant, who wore a face mask to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, said the couple has “begun in law what has existed in love.”
“We celebrate and honor this journey that you have made together as life companions in hope of a day like today: historic for you two and for Costa Rica,” the officiant said, while a reported 10,000 people watched on Facebook Live.
Although public celebrations of the historic milestone were cancelled in light of the pandemic, President Carlos Alvarado Quesada — who was elected on a pro-marriage equality platform in 2018 — offered his well-wishes to the happy couples on Twitter. Alvarado hailed the ceremonies as a celebration of “freedom, equality, and democratic institutions.”
“May empathy and love be the compass that allows us to get ahead and build a country where all people fit,” he wrote.
In comments to Reuters, Enrique Sanchez — the first out gay man to serve in the Legislative Assembly — added that these couples are helping to “build a society where there are no second-class families or second-rate people.”
Although Costa Rica is the only Central American country to recognize the right of all couples to marry, it joins five other nations in Latin America that have already legalized marriage equality. In 2010, Argentina became the first in the region to allow same-sex couples to wed, followed by Brazil, Uruguay, Colombia, and most recently Ecuador. Some parts of Mexico, meanwhile, recognize marriage equality.
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