Human rights groups and activists have expressed opposition on the proposed Guatemalan law that if passed, would “bar single parents as well as same-sex couples from the definition of ‘family,’ and threaten the legal status of children conceived through reproductive technologies.”

A draft law in Guatemala, the “Integral Protection for Marriage and Family Act,” has caused human rights groups and activists to express their opposition. If passed, activists fighting for the rights of sexual minorities claim that the law would eliminate single parents and same-sex couples from the official definition of “family.”

Under the draft law, only a nuclear family made up of a father, mother, and their children would be defined as a “family.” It states that “family essentially originates, exclusively, from the conjugal union between a man and a woman…through marriage or through a legally declared de facto union and other social forms, such as a religious ceremony or ritual, custom or cultural practice, as the only natural design.”

But according to one of the bill's sponsor Deputy Carlos Eduardo Velásquez of the small right-wing Unity of National Change (UCN) party, “the law defends the family and prevents the concept of marriage from being distorted. Marriage cannot be between homosexuals.”

“No family will ever benefit from leaving others unprotected,” argued Juliana Cano Nieto, researcher in the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights programme at the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW). “The aim of this bill is to strip certain partners, parents, and children of rights and recognition all families deserve.”

On October 1, Human Rights Watch sent an open letter to the Guatemalan Congress calling for the legislators to vote against the draft law.
In particular, HRW expressed that this “legislative initiative would write discriminatory treatment of families into law” by:
- excluding almost 40% of Guatemala’s families and children from the protection given to other families;
- excluding children who were conceived because of artificial insemination and other treatments, potentially barring them from the definition of “family”; and
- committing Guatemala to endorse this restrictive definition of the family at all international as well as national gatherings, and punish Guatemalan government representatives who publicly support a different definition.

HRW's initiative was immediately supported by other human rights groups and activists. “We agree with HRW because passing a law that excludes sexual diversity generates an environment of even more violence and aggression” towards sexual minorities, said Claudia Acevedo, head of the Association of Liberated Lesbians (LESBIRADAS).

“We are not seeking same-sex marriage or adoption by same-sex couples, but merely the possibility of enjoying basic legal rights,” added Acevedo, who also said that the rights of gays and lesbians in Guatemala are often trampled on because of their sexual orientation.

But Velásquez argued that “The constitution establishes that we all have the same rights,” adding that because “homosexuality is a preference, not a right,” the constitution defends homosexuals “as people, but not their preferences.”

Carlos Romero, spokesman for the Guatemalan National Network of Sexual Diversity and HIV, an umbrella network of 18 different organisations, expressed disappointment by saying that “They are delegitimising the way we live. It is terrible that we are seen as second-class citizens.”

The bill was initially proposed in October 2005, but Congress debated it for the first time in July 2007. The debate over the bill was hastily reopened on September 26. Policymakers are reportedly scrambling to pass the bill this October after the Guatemalan gay rights group Oasis announced that it will host ten symbolic same-sex weddings this month, complete with traditional food, marimba music and the blessing of a Catholic priest.

Sources:
“Family bill could hurt Guatemala single moms-group” from Reuters, posted on October 8, 2007, <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N08330927.htm>.
“GUATEMALA: Concern Over Bill that Would Restrict Definition of ‘Family’” from Inter Press Service, posted on October 4, 2007, <http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39528>. 
“Guatemala: Reject Bill Threatening Families” from Human Rights Watch, posted on October 1, 2007, <http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/10/01/guatem16982.htm>.