By Katherine Stanley
Tico Times Staff | kstanley@ticotimes.net

Same-sex couples in Costa Rica will be able to enter into civil unions if the Legislative Assembly approves a bill presented yesterday by a group of lawmakers – though it seems highly likely that controversy will ensue before the bill ever reaches a vote.

At a press conference held to unveil the law, legislators from three parties responded to a hail of questions from reporters regarding how the Law of Same-Sex Civil Unions might affect adoption, family structures and domestic violence prevention. Immediately afterward, opposing legislator Guyón Massey, an evangelical pastor and a member of the National Restoration Party, left the assembly floor to voice his opinion that the law would “violate Biblical principals and societal tradition.”

Asked whether he agrees with the bill's proponents that ensuring equality for gays and lesbians is a human rights issue, he said that by that logic, “delinquents, thieves…any person could turn to (the argument of) human rights to legitimize their practices.”

Those supporting the bill, which has been in the works since last year, include Ana Helena Chacón of the Social Christian Unity Party (PUSC), José Merino of the Broad Front, Carlos Manuel Gutiérrez of the Libertarian Movement, and Andrea Morales of the Citizen Action Party (PAC). When the group was asked whether they expect resistance from the rest of the assembly when discussion of the bill begins, Merino admitted that it could be a tough sell.

“There are accumulated prejudices. There's fear,” he said, as his colleagues nodded in agreement.

Last year, the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court (Sala IV) rejected a lawsuit by Tico lawyer Yashin Castrillo, who sought to marry his same-sex partner. Though the court declared that Costa Rica's constitutional norms on marriage do not apply to gay couples, it also stated that “an absence of adequate regulation exists” regarding same-sex unions (TT, May 26, 2006).

Abelardo Araya, president of the Diversity Movement, a group of Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender (GLBT) activists, said at the press conference that the new bill would give gay people in civil unions the rights heterosexual couples in such unions enjoy, such as a share of assets after a partner's death.

“It's not a bill that creates something new. These couples already exist,” he said.