Today, November 25, in 1997, gay sex became legal in Ecuador when the Constitutional Tribunal overturned the first paragraph of Article 516 of the Penal Code, which criminalized sexual activities between persons of the same sex.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Ecuador may face some legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Though both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Ecuador, same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.
In 1998, Ecuador became one of the first countries in the world to constitutionally ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since 2009, civil unions with all of the rights of marriage (expect for adoption) have been available to same-sex couples. Additionally, transgender people under the 2016 Gender Identity Law may change their legal gender without the use of surgery. However, the Constitution of Ecuador provides that marriage shall only be between a man and a woman.
In 2013, gay activist Pamela Troya filed a lawsuit to strike down that ban and legalize same-sex marriage in the country. The lawsuit currently remains pending and focuses mostly on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' ruling in Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile. The Atala case has caused bans on same-sex marriage in Mexico to be struck down and Chile's Government pleding to legalize same-sex marriage.
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