BOLIVIAN LGBTI RIGHTS GROUP PUSH TO PASS SAME-SEX MARRIAGE BILL|推"同性婚姻法" 玻國平權運動再出擊

As it is often said, we only have one Earth, so we better start taking care of it. In fact, in recent years, public awareness has increased not just for environmental affairs, but also for various social issues. In many countries, public acceptance of sexual minorities has been on the rise, yet it often takes longer for social acceptance to be translated into legal rights. In Bolivia, a lesbian couple, Mamani and Flores, who have been together for more than a decade, recently decided to fight for the right to get married and adopt children. Since March this year, Tatiana Shane Mamani and Pamela Flores have been living together as a couple and raising their three children in the city of El Alto, the second-largest city in Bolivia. Flores' 10-year-old son, Adrian Cano Flores spoke positively about having two mothers. ==ADRIAN CANO FLORES, son of Pamela Flores== It's different having two mothers than having a Mum and Dad. All right. Better than with my father. Mamani and Flores met more than a decade ago at national LGBTI meetings. At that time, Flores used to live in Cochabamba, a city in central Bolivia. After she came out, she lost her job at a medical clinic. Flores made up her mind to move to El Alto and form a family with her partner. As their marriage is not officially recognized, they decided to fight for equal rights. ==PAMELA FLORES, Bolivian LGBTI Activist== There are many factors that the society ignores and that is what this time is about. To try to convince them, so that they can see we have the same needs as a heterosexual couple. To be able to access a bank loan as a couple, to combine her salary and mine. Bolivia's 2009 Constitution prohibits and punishes discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Accordingly, in 2014, the Bolivian Senate passed a revised Family Code that did away with any gender-specific terms, while it was clarified that a separate law for same-sex marriage is needed. Since then, LGBTI rights groups have begun to ask the government to pass specific legislation for same-sex marriage. Following the Gender Identity Law which was enacted this May and allows transgender people to have new ID cards, many believe it is time to present a draft bill to legalize same-sex marriage. ==DAVID TEZANOS, Ombudsman== The law will cover equal rights of married people for the LGBTI people of Bolivia and in that sense, materially speaking, implies equal rights, such as marital property. The draft bill "Family Life Agreement" was received by the ombudsman David Tezanos, who in turn, agreed to present it to the national legislature. The proposal seeks to grant same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples. However, with one exception, that is, adoptions. ==TATIANA SHANE MAMANI, Bolivian LGBTI Activist== I would like to raise our children in another environment but it's the hand we were dealt with at the moment and I think it's for a reason. I think we have to change structures. Although young people increasingly accept same-sex marriage, a 2015 poll found that 74% of Catholic Bolivia opposes same-sex marriage. TRANSLATED BY：SASHA CHIU 阿德里安和他的兩個媽媽，半年前搬到玻利維亞西部城市"埃爾阿爾托"。佛瑞絲和馬瑪尼在十年前認識，後來交往，共同撫養三個小孩。 ==兒子 阿德里安== 有兩個媽媽 和有爸爸媽媽很不一樣 一切很好啊 比有個爸爸更棒 阿德里安是佛瑞絲和前夫生的孩子。佛瑞絲離婚後，出櫃不被家人諒解，甚至丟了在診所的工作；決定搬離傷心地，和伴侶展開新生活。不過，她和另一半馬瑪尼的關係，並沒有獲得現行法律認可。兩人決定投入性別運動，催促政府儘快讓同性婚姻合法化。 ==同志人權運動者 佛瑞絲== 我希望共同撫養人有權大聲說 "我是她的伴侶 交往多年" "法律終於承認" "我可以為家庭付出" 這個社會忽視我們的需要 是時候讓人們知道 我們就像異性戀家長 一樣為孩子著想 卻沒辦法在銀行開個共同帳戶 玻利維亞2009年頒布新憲法，明文禁止任何對性向和性別的歧視，也讓性少數權利議題，在國會掀起論戰。2014年，婚姻法修法，移除了「一夫一妻」的法律術語，同時，卻要求另立特別法，才承認同性婚姻。今年五月國會通過新法，有條件讓跨性別者可以更換身分證。60個公民團體趁勝追擊，在九月向政府提交同性婚姻法草案。 ==政府申訴專員 特薩諾斯== 這條法律幾乎讓我國性少數族群 享有現存婚姻制度的權益 實質上來說 像是婚姻財產分配 官員承諾會把民間版草案送上國會。不過，後來卻發現，當中沒有提到孩子的領養權。也就是說，馬瑪尼和阿德里安要成為法定母子，恐怕會事與願違。 ==同志人權運動者 馬瑪尼== 我想要在更好的環境拉拔孩子 這就是我們現在 努力的方向和理由 我們需要改變社會結構 玻利維亞是天主教國家，民風保守。儘管年輕世代，愈來愈能接受同性婚姻，但是最近的民調指出，仍有超過七成民眾，反對同性婚姻合法化。 記者 邱偉淳 報導