Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Protestors gathered outside the Supreme Court in San Jose this week to demand change

Costa Rica's Supreme Court has ruled that the country's same-sex marriage ban is unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The court ruling gives the country's legislators a time limit of 18 months to change the current law.

The president welcomed the ruling, saying he wants to guarantee "no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation".

However many lawmakers are evangelicals who strongly oppose gay marriage.

A Supreme Court judge, Fernando Castillo, told a press conference on Wednesday that the ban will automatically cease to legally exist in 18 months, even if no action is taken by the legislature.

The legislative chamber has 57 seats - 14 of which are held by evangelical members.

Late Wednesday's ruling complies with a judgement issued in January by the Inter-American Human Rights Court that said same-sex marriage should be recognised by all of its signatory members.

Enrique Sanchez, the country's first openly gay legislator, told AFP that he did not believe the assembly would work out a law change between themselves.

He is a member of the Citizen Action Party, led by President Carlos Alvarado who came to power on a pro-LGBT platform.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Carlos Alvarado won April's presidential run-off promising to defend same-sex rights

President Alvarado is a former rock singer and novelist, who won the presidential run-off in April following a campaign where LGBT rights became a key issue.

He beat evangelical pastor opponent Fabricio Alvarado, who vowed to defy the Human Rights Court's rulings on same-sex rights.</s>A ban on same-sex marriages in Costa Rica was ordered to be struck down Thursday by the country’s Supreme Court, which declared the law to be unconstitutional and discriminatory.

The court ruling gives lawmakers 18 months to adjust the current law, Agence France-Presse reports.

The verdict is in line with an opinion given seven months ago by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that said homosexual couples have the same rights as heterosexual ones to marry.

“We continue to deploy actions that guarantee no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that the state’s protection be given to all families under equal conditions,” Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado wrote on Twitter.

Alvarado, a centrist, was elected in April after defeating an evangelical preacher, Fabricio Alvarado, who ran on a platform against same-sex unions.

Costa Rica is a majority Roman Catholic country and a high number of evangelical lawmakers who oppose gay marriage sit on the legislative assembly.

“I see it as not very likely that in 18 months the Legislative Assembly will work out a law,” said Enrique Sanchez, a lawmaker in President Alvarado’s Citizen Action Party, according to AFP.

“What I see happening is that the norm (the gay-marriage ban) will simply be declared unconstitutional in 18 months’ time,” added Sanchez, who is also the country’s first openly gay member of the legislature.

Magistrate Fernando Castillo said that if the legislature does not change the law within the time frame, the ban will cease to exist and gay marriage will automatically become legal, according to the Associated Press.</s>BOGOTA (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Costa Rica’s top court has ruled that a ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, a decision seen as a win for gay rights activists and welcomed by the country’s new president.

The Supreme Court gave lawmakers up to 18 months to legalize gay marriage, which has long been opposed by the Roman Catholic Church and evangelical groups in the Central American nation.

President Carlos Alvarado, who came to power earlier this year on a pro-gay rights platform, has publicly advocated same-sex marriage and vowed to implement the ruling.

“Our commitment to full equality remains intact,” he tweeted on Thursday. “We will continue to boost actions that guarantee no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity.”

The decision follows a judgment issued in January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), the top rights body of the Americas based in Costa Rica.

It said its signatory member countries, including Costa Rica, must grant equal rights to same-sex couples, including the right to marry.

“We know it’s going to be an 18-month struggle but the battle is already won,” Marco Castillo, a lawyer and head of the LBGT rights group Diversity Movement, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“It’s going to end with an equal marriage in Costa Rica.”

The change is likely to face stiff opposition from conservative and evangelical lawmakers in Costa Rica.

But Supreme Court judge Fernando Castillo told reporters after the ruling that the ban on gay marriage would automatically cease to exist if parliament failed to change the law by the deadline.

Many countries in mainly Catholic Latin America and the Caribbean ban same-sex marriage, but that is slowly changing.

Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay have all dropped their opposition in recent years.

“(To) those who are against this, we say live and let live,” said Castillo. “Many oppose for religious reasons, but the Bible says love your neighbor.”</s>SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — Costa Rica's supreme court has given the country's legislature 18 months to change the law to allow gay marriage.

The court voted Wednesday night to make gay marriage legal, declaring that existing laws banning it were unconstitutional.

Magistrate Fernando Castillo said in a news conference that the laws were inconsistent with an opinion issued in January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. That court had said countries, such as Costa Rica, that had signed the American Convention on Human Rights had to take immediate action to legalize gay marriage.

Castillo says that if the legislature does not make the necessary changes within 18 months gay marriage will automatically become legal because the current ban will cease to exist.</s>Costa Rica's supreme court has given the country's legislature 18 months to change the law to allow gay marriage.

The court voted Wednesday night to make gay marriage legal, declaring that existing laws banning it were unconstitutional.

Magistrate Fernando Castillo said in a news conference that the laws were inconsistent with an opinion issued in January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. That court had said countries, such as Costa Rica, that had signed the American Convention on Human Rights had to take immediate action to legalize gay marriage.

Castillo says that if the legislature does not make the necessary changes within 18 months gay marriage will automatically become legal because the current ban will cease to exist.

Be the first to know. No one covers what is happening in our community better than we do. And with a digital subscription, you'll never miss a local story.</s>Costa Rica's Supreme Court has ordered a statutory ban on same-sex marriages be struck down as unconstitutionally discriminatory and has given lawmakers -- including a high proportion of evangelicals who promote heterosexual-only unions -- 18 months to change the laws in that sense.

The decision, issued late Wednesday, complies with an opinion given seven months ago by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights declaring that homosexual couples have the same rights as heterosexual ones to marry.

"We continue to deploy actions that guarantee no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that the state's protection be given to all families under equal conditions," he wrote on Twitter.

Costa Rica has a strong Catholic tradition and has also seen a proliferation of evangelical churches in recent decades. Many followers of those denominations are opposed to gay marriages.

In April this year, Alvarado, a centrist, was elected to the presidency by comfortably seeing off a challenge by an evangelical preacher, Fabricio Alvarado (no relation), who campaigned against homosexual unions.

But evangelical lawmakers fill 14 of the single-chamber Legislative Assembly's 57 seats -- their highest proportion ever. They are unlikely to back a lifting of the gay-marriage ban currently enshrined in family law.

"I see it as not very likely that in 18 months the Legislative Assembly will work out a law," said Enrique Sanchez, a lawmaker in President Alvarado's Citizen Action Party.

"What I see happening is that the norm (the gay-marriage ban) will simply be declared unconstitutional in 18 months' time," said Sanchez, who is the country's first openly gay member of the legislature.

One evangelical lawmaker, Jonathan Prendas, complained that the Supreme Court decision "put a gun to our head" to change the law as directed.</s>In a decision hailed by LGBT advocates and scorned by evangelical lawmakers, Costa Rica's Supreme Court found that the country's laws banning same sex marriage were unconstitutional.

The court, which voted on the measure on Wednesday night, said that the laws were discriminatory and must be immediately changed.

Magistrate Fernando Castillo told reporters that the ban was inconsistent with an opinion issued in January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that said homosexual couples must have the same rights to marry as heterosexual couples.

The Supreme Court gave Costa Rican lawmakers 18 months to implement laws lifting the ban. Should they fail to meet the deadline, gay marriage will automatically become legal.

"We continue to deploy actions that guarantee no person will face discrimination for their sexual orientation or gender identity, and that the state's protection be given to all families under equal conditions," he wrote on Twitter.

Enrique Sanchez, the country's first openly gay member of the legislature, said he thinks lawmakers won't be able to agree on a new law within the next year and a half.

"What I see happening is that the norm [the gay-marriage ban] will simply be declared unconstitutional in 18 months' time," Sanchez said.

The court ruling didn't sit well with some evangelical politicians, with lawmaker Jonathan Prendas saying that the court's decision "put a gun to our head" to change the law.

Costa Rica, which has a strong Catholic tradition, has seen a rise in evangelical churches in recent decades. Evangelical lawmakers currently fill 14 of the Legislative Assembly's 57 seats. Gay marriage was a highly contested issue during the country's presidential election in April this year.

Every evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.</s>Costa Rica hasn’t always been a friend to the LGBTQ population; in fact, they even had a same-gender marriage ban in place. Now the ban has been overturned, allowing people to marry who they love.

According to New Now Next, legislators now have 18 months to change marriage law and grant same-gender couples the right to marry. If they don’t act on it, the ban against marriage will still automatically dissolve.

The decision comes from a ruling issued this past January by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Even though many legislators oppose this change, and a lot of Costa Ricans are evangelicals, the ruling still stands.

This is awesome news for queer folks in Costa Rica, as well as their tourism, as more same-gender couples will be flocking to this sunny paradise to tie the knot. Congrats!
The Supreme Court of Costa Rica rules that a ban on same-sex marriage is illegal, and states that legislators must change the law accordingly within eighteen months.