Activists who fought for same-sex marriage in Ecuador finally get married

Ecuador same-sex couple activists get married

Two activists who fought for exactly six years to achieve marriage equality in Ecuador got married on Monday (August 5).

Pamela Troy and Gabriela Correa were declared legally married in the Civil Registry of San Blas, according to local news site El Comercio.

The couple wed in the capital, Quito, and decided to return to the same civil registry they went to on August 5 2013, where exactly six years before they were denied permission to marry and began their fight for same-sex marriage in the country.

Troya was a spokesperson for the official campaign for marriage equality in Ecuador, MCivil Igualitario, and according to El Comercio Troya said: “We have returned the same day, at the same time, to say ‘I do.’”

Ecuadorian site Plan V reported that police were outside guarding the street, and that in their vows both brides thanked “the lawyers, academics, activists, journalists, friends and family who supported their six-year struggle.”

“They recalled the attacks and homophobic teasing on social networks, malicious criticism and anonymous comments from people who oppose Ecuador being a more fair and inclusive country,” Plan V reported.

One of the wedding guests was Silvia Buendía, an Ecuadorian journalist, TV presenter and activist who campaigned for same-sex marriage in the country.

Ecuador same-sex couple activists get married

Pamela Troy and Gabriela Correa got married in the country’s capital, Quito, at the same civil registry where began their fight for marriage equality. (Pamela Troya/ Twitter)

Ecuador legalised same-sex marriage on June 12 2019

Ecuador’s highest court legalised same-sex marriage on June 12, ruling in favour of two gay couples who petitioned for the right to wed.

The constitutional court in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, voted five-to-four to approve same-sex marriage in the cases of the two men—thus extending gay marriage across the country.

The decision to legalise same-sex marriage followed other countries in South America, including Argentina, Brazil and Colombia.