Equal Marriage In Chile: New Rights For LGBTQ Workers

• Published date: 09 June 2022
• Subject Matter: Employment and HR, Family and Matrimonial, Discrimination, Disability & Sexual Harassment, Employee Rights/ Labour Relations, Family Law
• Law Firm: lus Laboris
• Author: Ms Marcela Salazar (Munita & Olavarria) and María Del Pilar Salas (Munita & Olavarría)

Chile has recently finalised the Equal Marriage Law. It allows same sex couples to marry, and gives them full parental and adoption rights in the workplace.

A growing number of countries are legalising same-sex marriage, and Chile is no exception. However, this recognition of the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Chileans is the product of years of debate.

The project on legislating equal marriage dates back to March 2008, when a group of parliamentarians presented the initiative but did not have sufficient support for its approval. Then, in 2010, the initiative was again proposed, but it was also rejected.

In 2015, a Civil Union law was passed and recognised the union between same-sex couples but differentiated it from civil marriage itself. Even though civil union law made some progress in protecting family diversity, it did not provide equal rights, for example, parental and adoption rights.

So, on 28 August 2017, former President Michelle Bachelet sent the equal marriage bill to the National Congress. Processing began in September 2017, and finally, on 10 December 2021, the Equal Marriage Law (Law No. 21,400, which 'Amends Various Legal Texts to Regulate on Equal Terms the Marriage of Persons of the Same-Sex'), was published. On 10 March 2022, the law entered into force.

The main message of the law is that the family is the nucleus of society, and therefore marriage should be recognised as having a special, preferential, and protected status. It recognises the right of all individuals to have access to the institution of marriage, regardless of their sexual identity or orientation.

The new law grants equal access to civil marriage to individuals of the same sex. This leads to several consequences in Chilean legislation. Among them, is the recognition of 'filiation' (having a child) for same-sex families, whether by assisted reproduction or adoption, and access to patrimonial property regimes: a same-sex couple can now choose between separation of property or joint property...