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COSTARICANEWS
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Tuesday 10
August 2010 |
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Gays
Unite
Against
Referendum
on Civil
Unions
By
Daniel
Zueras,
IPS
Human
rights
organizations
and the
gay
community
in Costa
Rica
have
joined
forces
to try
to block
a
referendum
on a law
for
civil
unions
between
partners
of the
same
sex.
The
Supreme
Electoral
Tribunal
(TSE)
approved
a
proposal
made by
four
lawyers,
backed
by
150,000
signatures
--
20,000
more
than are
legally
required
--
calling
for the
referendum,
rather
than the
legislature,
to
determine
whether
to allow
gay and
lesbian
civil
unions.
It set
Dec. 5
as the
date for
the
vote.
The fate
of the
referendum
is now
in the
hands of
the
constitutional
chamber
of the
Supreme
Court,
which
must
rule on
a legal
challenge
to the
ballot,
based on
the
principle
that
human
rights
cannot
be
subject
to a
vote.
Since
2006,
the
single-chamber
Costa
Rican
parliament
has been
discussing
a civil
union
bill
that
would
recognize
same-sex
couples.
The
referendum
is being
openly
promoted
by
Observatorio
Ciudadano,
an
organization
backed
by the
Catholic
Church,
in this
overwhelmingly
Catholic
country.
Human
rights
organizations
accuse
the
Church
leadership
of
religious
interference
in
political
affairs.
Costa
Rican
President
Laura
Chinchilla,
who is
close to
the
Church,
called
for a
respectful
debate
"free of
stigma
or
oversimplifications,"
and
hinted
at her
personal
opposition
to gay
civil
unions
when she
said it
was "not
a
priority"
issue.
Ombudswoman
Ofelia
Taitelbaum
told IPS
"we are
completely
against"
holding
the
referendum.
"It is
about
human
rights,
which
cannot
be left
in the
hands of
a group
of
homophobic
Catholics,"
she
said,
adding
that it
would
also be
detrimental
to a
social
minority
whose
rights
must be
defended.
The TSE
fixed
the
referendum
date to
coincide
with the
municipal
elections.
This
makes it
likely
that
more
than 30
percent
of
voters
will
vote, a
requirement
for the
referendum
result
to be
binding,
lawyer
Alexandra
Loría,
who is
promoting
the
initiative,
told IPS.
Opinion
polls
indicate,
and
social
movements
believe,
that the
outcome
of the
referendum
is
unlikely
to put
Costa
Rica
among
those
countries
that
have
approved
same-sex
unions,
given
the
pressure
exerted
by the
Catholic
Church
and
other
churches,
and the
resistance
of the
conservative
majority
of the
population
to
expanding
gay
rights.
Many of
the
signatures
for the
referendum
were
collected,
in fact,
at
Catholic
and
Protestant
places
of
worship.
Nine
institutions
formed
the
Costa
Rican
Coalition
of
Sexual
Diversity
Organizations
and
Groups (CONODIS),
which is
campaigning
against
the
referendum,
regarded
by its
members
as an
attempt
to
violate
human
rights.
Lawyer
Esteban
Quirós,
a
supporter
of the
CONODIS
coalition,
lodged
an
appeal
with the
constitutional
chamber
of the
Supreme
Court on
the
grounds
that a
popular
vote on
the
issue of
gay
rights
would be
in
breach
of the
constitution,
where
these
rights
are
guaranteed.
"I think
they
(the
Supreme
Court)
will
block
it,"
Quirós
told IPS.
Costa
Rica has
signed
several
international
treaties
that
confirm
that
basic
rights
cannot
be
subjected
to a
referendum,
he
pointed
out.
He
cited,
for
example,
the
Universal
Declaration
of Human
Rights,
the
American
Convention
on Human
Rights
and the
International
Covenant
on Civil
and
Political
Rights.
If the
Supreme
Court
rules in
favour
of
holding
the
referendum,
Quirós
plans to
take the
case to
international
courts,
like the
Inter-American
Court of
Human
Rights,
which
happens
to be
based in
San
José.
Loría
dismissed
the idea
that the
debate
involved
human
rights.
"We
believe
in
marriage
and the
family
as
established
by the
constitution.
The name
of the
bill is
irrelevant,
it's the
content
that
matters,"
she
said,
claiming
that the
words
"civil
union"
had been
used
instead
of
"marriage"
in order
to avoid
conflicts.
Ombudswoman
Taitelbaum
criticized
the
government's
silence
on the
issue,
although
in their
personal
capacity,
both
Health
Minister
María
Luisa
Ávila
and
Education
Minister
Leonardo
Garnier
have
sided
with the
gay
community.
In her
view,
there is
a
homophobic
campaign
in
favour
of
holding
the
referendum
which,
if left
uncontrolled,
"will
unleash
a wave
of
violence
against
sexual
minorities."
"It is a
matter
of
national
security,"
she
said,
calling
for a
public
statement
from the
executive
branch.
Meanwhile,
gay
organisations
have a
Plan B
ready in
case the
referendum
is
ultimately
held and
the
legalization
of
same-sex
unions
is
rejected,
as
expected.
They
will
present
a
"mega-motion"
for the
approval
of
another
bill
which
would
also
recognize
the
legal
status
of
same-sex
couples,
Abelardo
Araya,
president
of
Movimiento
Diversidad
(Diversity
Movement),
one of
the most
visible
groups
in the
struggle
for gay,
lesbian,
bisexual
and
transsexual
(GLBT)
rights,
told IPS.
The bill
is a
draft
law on "sociedades
de
convivencia"
(cohabitation
partnerships),
which
enjoys
even
more
support
from
lawmakers
than the
bill on
civil
unions
for
same-sex
couples.
"If the
referendum
takes
place,
it will
be a
waste of
resources,
because
the bill
on civil
unions
it
refers
to will
be
superseded
by the
cohabitation
bill,"
Araya
said.
This
tactic
was
possible
because
"the
question
put in
the
referendum
is very
specific."
Voters
are to
be asked
quite
precisely
whether
they
approve
or
disapprove
of draft
law
16390
(the law
on civil
unions),
so even
if the
referendum
is held
and the
'no'
vote
prevails,
it will
not be
an
impediment
for
consideration
of the
cohabitation
partnership
bill. |
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