Chile's Congress approves same-sex marriage, adoption

A measure to legalize marriage and adoption by same-sex couples was approved by the lower house of Chile's Congress on Tuesday, moving it close to final adoption. It had already passed the Senate.

The bill approved 101-30 now awaits only final modifications related to the rights of same-sex couples. President Sebastián Piñera has indicated he will publish it into law.

Conservative lawmakers in the South American nation staged a last-minute battle against the bill.

But from the other side, lawmaker Maya Fernandez said that "It cannot be that in the 21st century, we are discussing whether we have the same rights or not. Everyone should have the same rights."

Chile had accepted same-sex civil unions in 2015, but that measure did not include a provision for adoption.

Some same-sex couples had annulled their civil unions and adopted children as single parents to get around that problem.

The marriage proposal had been stalled in the Senate for about four years until the conservative president surprised many by announcing he would push for the measure, saying, "I think the time has come for marriage equality in our country."