Several thousand people marched through the streets of Santiago, Chile on Saturday to demand marriage equality.
Demonstrators marched from the Plaza Italia to the presidential palace at La Moneda.
Luis Larrain, president of the Equal Foundation, told Reuters “[w]e are here to demand respect for our identity, for our rights, for our families and for our bodies, which still hasn’t happened here in Chile.”
“We feel that we are behind. Our neighbors, including Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, already have marriage equality. We are only now discussing a law for civil unions. We are very behind and we need political authorities to get up to date.”
A civil unions bill, known as the Life Partner Agreement, is currently before the Chamber of Deputies after clearing the Senate earlier this month.
Demonstrators also called for greater rights for transgender people, Telesur reported.
“We are marching today on October 18 so trans identities will not be considered pathological,” said transgender protester Franco Fuica. “As transsexual people, we are categorized as mentally ill for being who we are.”
by On Top Magazine
Source – On Top Magazine
