Gay rights are not progressing in Panama. In a judgment released on Wednesday, the country’s Supreme Court rejected the recognition of same-sex marriage, ruling that it “does not fall into the category of a human right or a fundamental right”.
“The right to equal marriage is nothing more than an aspiration which, although legitimate for the groups concerned, falls neither into the category of a human right nor a fundamental right”, according to the judgment of the Court dated February 16.
The Court seized since 2016 on the subject
The Supreme Court had been seized since 2016 of several appeals from homosexual couples against the Family Code, which only recognizes marriage between a man and a woman. The requesting couples invoked the unconstitutionality of these provisions to seek recognition of their marriage celebrated in other countries.
However, “despite changes that may occur in reality”, homosexual marriage “does not enjoy conventional and constitutional recognition” in Panama, according to the judgment approved by six of the Court’s nine magistrates. The norms imposed by the Family Code reserving marriage to the union of a man and a woman “are objective and rationally justified by the general interest of giving preference to those unions which can found families, preserve the human species and therefore society”, justified the Supreme Court.