Costa Rican Legislative Assembly Passes Gay Marriage Legalization by Accident

The Costa Rican Legislative Assembly passed a measure that could pave the way for legalized same-sex civil unions by accident on Monday, the Tico Times reported.

The measure was part of a larger bill for the Law of Young People, which encompasses social services for young people as well as laws pertaining to marriage. According to La Nación, lawmakers have asked President Laura Chinchilla to veto the bill.

Tico Times reported that San José lawmaker José María Villalta, who is part of the leftist Broad Front Party, included the measure in the bill. Conservative lawmakers passed the bill without realizing that it contains language granting social rights and benefits of civil unions without discrimination, La Nación wrote.

Villalta told La Republica, "During the discussion in the first debate, we explained that the Law of Young People should be interpreted with this sense of opening to gays and no one objected."

However, that did not stop conservatives from voicing their disapproval of the passed measure. According to La Nación, conservative Justo Orozco, of the National Renovation Party, likened homosexuality to alcoholism and tobacco addiction and said it could be "cured." Orozco and Manrique Oviedo, of the Citizen's Action Party, were among the politicians calling on President Chinchilla to veto the measure.

Some politicians were concerned of the measure's effects on article 242 of the Family Code, which establishes marriages are between a man and a woman. The Tico Times reported that evangelical lawmaker Carlos Avendaño said the measure was "a mirage" because of the previously established marriage law.

Liberal politicians remained hopeful that the bill would pass, the Tico Times reported. Marco Castillo, the president of the Diversity Movement, told the Times, "It is a big step forward for gay rights in Costa Rica."

Whether the bill is passed in full remains to be seen. According to the Tico Times, a poll in 2011 revealed that 73 percent of Costa Ricans opposed same-sex marriage. Only five Latin American countries allow same-sex unions. Two countries, Argentina and Uruguay, recognize gay marriage, while the remaining three, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador, recognize same-sex civil unions.