LGBT and human rights activists celebrate the ruling, which will pave the way for more rights for same-sex couples.
Ecuador’s highest court has approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling in the small and traditionally Catholic country.
The Constitutional Court said on Wednesday that same-sex marriage had been approved in a five-to-four vote of its nine judges in a closed-door hearing.
LGBT and human rights activists celebrated the decision in the capital, Quito, and the port city of Guayaquil, waving the rainbow flag of the gay rights movement.
With the ruling, Ecuador joins other South American countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Uruguay in recognising same-sex marriage.
“It means Ecuador is more egalitarian,” lawyer Christian Paula of the Patka Foundation, which provides legal advice for same-sex couples looking to marry in the country, said.
“It recognises that human rights must be for all people without discrimination.”
The decision came as the court ruled on lawsuits by two male couples who wanted to wed.
Speaking to reporters in Quito, one of the men, Efrain Soria, urged others to stop hiding and “enjoy the happiness that comes from being equal, like anyone else”.
Soria, who is also the president of the Ecuadorian Equality Foundation, an LGBT rights group, said the ruling is “a joy for our entire community and for Ecuador”.
