First Same-Gender Couple Makes History in Chile After Marriage Equality Passing

Javier Silva and Jaime Nazar made history in Chile by becoming the first same-gender couple to get married after a law allowing same-gender couples to wed went into effect.  

“Being the first couple to get married in Chile for us is an honor, something to be proud of,” Silva said after their ceremony. “We did it! It’s something we didn’t think could happen.” 

In December, Chile approved marriage equality legislation, which made Chile the eighth country in Latin America allowing same-gender marriage. Former President Sebastian Piñera, who opposed the legislation for years, said a few months ago that he’d changed his position. 

In an annual speech to Congress, that took place on June 1, Piñera said that “the time for same-sex marriage has arrived.”

“I believe we must take an in-depth look at the value of freedom, including the freedom to love and form a family with a loved one,” he adds. 

Silva and Nazar, who have two children, have been together for seven years but had a civil union for the last three.

The civil union law went into effect in 2015. It allows same-gender couples to claim pension benefits and inherit property if their partner dies; the couples can also co-own properties and make medical decisions for one another with civil union benefits. Though, a civil union is still not the same as marriage.

“Now our children have the same rights (as other families), and they will be able to have, we hope, a better future that they will not be discriminated against for having two parents who love each other,” Silva adds. 

“My congratulations to Jaime and Javier for being the first couple to get married under the new #EqualMarriage law. To continue advancing for a Chile with equal rights and freedoms for all people,” Gabriel Boric Font, the new president, tweets. 

“I think we’re putting ourselves at the level the rest of the world is living in, which is great,” Nazar says. “ I know our society is very conservative, but I also know we have a promising future as a country.”