San José, Costa Rica, January 10, 2018.

As a member of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica and of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA), as well as former Co-convenor of PGA’s Gender, Equality and Population Program with oversight of its SOGI Campaign, I welcome the historic Advisory Opinion by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the protection of the rights to same-sex couples and to a gender identity, notified on January 9, 2018. The Opinion of the Court responds a request from Costa Rica regarding the interpretation of the American Convention on Human Rights in relation to these two aspects, and thus, I am very proud that my country has played an instrumental role in this resolution.

The Court reaffirms in its decision its continuous jurisprudence that sexual orientation and gender identity are categories protected by the American Convention. Consequently, the Court urges the States of the Inter-American Human Rights System to promote the necessary legislative, administrative and judicial reforms to extend the right of access to the institution of marriage to same-sex couples and to establish adequate procedures for trans people to change their name, image or sex/gender in the registers and in their identity documents in accordance with their self-perceived gender identity.

In addition, the Court recalled that, in accordance with international law, the public authorities of the States that are party to the American Convention are obliged to apply the standards established in the Advisory Opinion. That is, what the Court determines for Costa Rica is also legally-binding on all the rest of the States parties to the American Convention. In this regard, I would like to encourage my fellow parliamentarians in the region to review this resolution, promote frank dialogues with civil society on the subject and take the necessary legislative measures in their respective countries so that all rights of same-sex couples and trans people are respected, in accordance with the Opinion of the Court.

I am a strong advocate for the rights and inclusion of LGBTI people, a goal towards which I have worked closely with PGA in recent years. At the time, I supported PGA's submission, on December 7, 2016, of an opinion to the Court regarding the request by Costa Rica, supporting the interpretation of the American Convention that the Court has finally defended in its decision. I also facilitated a PGA Seminar in my country in March 2017 for parliamentarians from Latin America and the Caribbean to share experiences and stories to advance equality and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in the region. I have also supported the bill for the “Law for the Recognition of Rights to Gender Identity and Equality before the Law” in Costa Rica, which defends the same principles contained in the Court’s decision and was approved in June 2017 in the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly.

I hope that this bill will soon be approved by the plenary of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica and will become law; and subsequently, that similar laws protecting the right to gender identity, as well as equal access to marriage, will be implemented in every country of the region. I am confident the decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will become a turning point and an incentive to guarantee full equality in rights to LGBTI persons in all the countries of the Americas.

– Diputado Ronny Monge
Miembro de la Asamblea Legislativa de Costa Rica
Miembro de PGA