Santiago Center Celebrates the Legalization of Same-sex Marriage in Chile

December 10, 2021

During his state of the nation address on June 1, Chilean President Sebastián Piñera stated he would seek to expedite a same-sex marriage bill that had been stalled in Congress since 2017. The bill was finally approved by Congress on December 7, and signed into law on December 10 in a ceremony held at the Chilean presidential palace attended by several members of LGBTQ organizations. During the event, Piñera said that the new law “puts all relationships of love between two people on an equal footing.” In that context, the Santiago Center joined a group of 68 national and multinational organizations in Chile to support the initiative.

With the approval of same-sex marriage, Chile is taking a new step towards building a fairer and more inclusive country.

We believe all social actors must strongly commit to support initiatives that make our society a more diverse and inclusive environment, free of discrimination. As organizations adhering to this statement, and along with Pride Connection Chile, we promote and develop open spaces in our workplaces that welcome, value and respect diversity, because in the richness of our differences lies the opportunity to attract and retain the best talent.

Today, we are happy to publicly support the legalization of same-sex marriage in Chile. However, we know that we must progress in other cultural transformations, not only because we are all equal before the law, but also because this will allow us to build solid, sustainable organizations and societies. Further, we advocate for the elimination of all types of discrimination against the LGBTQ community in Chile, because only in this way, people will be able to fully express themselves in their maximum expression, in all areas of life.

We thank all the organizations that have adhered to this campaign.

The joint statement in Spanish can be read here.