The IACHR held a hearing on marriage equality after a year of delays from the region in implementing the Court’s 2017 decision

In 2017 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights determined that marriage equality was a human right.  The Court’s Consultative Opinion 24 (OC24 for short) requires governments to take action to ensure equal protection of LGBT families. But of the 22 countries in the Americas that haven’t legalized same sex marriage, only Costa Rica has made any effort to advance toward compliance in the last year.

On December 5, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) held a hearing on marriage equality in the Americas at its headquarters in Washington, DC, during the 170th session of the IACHR.

As part of the Organization of American States (OAS) human rights system, the duty of the IACHR is hear cases regarding human rights violations against OAS member states and when those states don’t comply with its recommendations refer them to the Inter-American Court for Human Rights. Although 80 percent of the population in the Americas lives in places where same sex couples can be married, about 70 percent of the countries of the region do not recognize marriage equality. That was recognized a year ago by the Inter-American Court in OC24. Read more via Global Americans