"This is a very important step, because it's the first time that any state
entity is recognizing rights for same-sex couples here," the Times quoted
Virgilio Barco Isakson, president of the board of Colombia Diversa, a
gay-rights group.
The court ruled that if a gay couple of two years separates, the assets
accumulated during the relationship will be divided between the two, and in the
case of death, the survivor will receive all the assets.
Previously if one died, his or her possessions passed on to the surviving
family.
As in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage was approved by the state's high
court rather than by the Legislature, the Colombian court ruling follows four
failed attempts in Colombia's congress since 1999 to promote legislation
guaranteeing economic and legal benefits to gay partners.
While homosexuals celebrated the ruling, activists told the media they would
continue fighting for parity with heterosexual couples.
"Laws are not enough, an important cultural shift is needed... for
discrimination to end," Columbia Diversa's Marcela Sanchez said, reports the
BBC.
The AP reports that Wednesday's ruling was condemned by some lay Catholic groups, which described it as "going against the family and matrimony".
