Judge in Colombia clears the way for gay couple to marry

On Thursday, July 11, Judge Carmen Lucía Rodríguez Díaz, a civil judge in Bogotá, the capital city of Colombia, issued a 5-page ruling where she declared that a gay couple can legally marry in the South American country.

The couple, Diego and Juan, plans to wed on July 24, 2013.

Judge Díaz's ruling comes less than a month after the Colombian legislature failed to pass a bill extending the freedom to marry to same-sex couples. In 2011, Colombia's Constitutional Court ruled that in two years, national lawmakers must extend same-sex couples the same benefits and protections that different-sex couples can receive through marriage. The deadline of June 20, 2013 passed without a successful move forward. 

If Colombia were to pass the freedom to marry, it will be the 17th country worldwide where same-sex couples can share in the freedom to marry. In 15 - most recently, France, Uruguay and New Zealand, same-sex couples have the freedom to marry nationwide. In two others - the United States and Mexico - couples can marry in some jurisdictions. 

Learn more about the freedom to marry internationally HERE.