LGBT rights in Colombia
| LGBT rights in Colombia | |
|---|---|
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Colombia
|
|
| Same-sex sexual activity legal? | Legal |
| Gender identity/expression | Right to change legal gender since 1993 |
| Military service | Yes |
| Discrimination protections | Sexual orientation protections since 2011 |
| Family rights | |
| Recognition of relationships |
Same-sex marriage since 2016 |
| Adoption | Full joint adoption since 2015 |
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Colombia have progressed since consensual homosexual activity was decriminalized in 1980 with amendments to the Criminal Code, making it one of Latin America's most advanced countries in regard to LGBT rights legislation. Between February 2007 and April 2008, three rulings of the Constitutional Court granted registered same-sex couples the same pension, social security and property rights as for registered heterosexual couples. In 2011, Congress passed a law banning discrimination based on sexual orientation. On 28 April 2016, the Constitutional Court legalized same-sex marriage.
Article 13 of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 states that "the State will provide conditions for the equality to be real and effective, and will adopt measures in favour of marginalised or discriminated groups."
Article 42 of the Constitution states "the family is the basic nucleus of society. It is formed on the basis of natural or legal ties, by the free decision of a man and woman to contract matrimony or by their responsible resolve to comply with it".
Law reforms in the 1990s equalized the age of consent in Colombia at 14 for both homosexual and heterosexual sex. In 1998, the Constitutional Court ruled that public school teachers cannot be fired for revealing their sexual orientation, nor can private religious schools ban gay students from enrolling. In 1999, the same court unanimously ruled that the armed forces could not ban homosexuals and bisexuals from serving, being a violation of constitutional guarantees of "personal and family intimacy" and "the free development of one's personality."
On 7 February 2007, the Colombian Constitutional Court extended common-law marriage property and inheritance rights to same-sex couples, thanks to the constitutional action presented by the public interest law group of the Universidad de los Andes against Ley 54. The decision did not include pension or social security (health insurance) rights. In a second ruling of 5 October 2007, the Constitutional court extended social security (health insurance) benefits to same-sex couples, and in a ruling on 17 April 2008 pension rights were extended. With these three rulings, same-sex couples in Colombia now enjoy the main benefits as heterosexual couples under the same terms.
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