First same-sex couple weds in Costa Rica after ban dropped

Costa Rica saw its first same-sex marriage early Tuesday shortly after the country’s ban on such unions was lifted. 

Daritza Araya Arguedas and Alexandra Quirós Castillo were married in a ceremony in San Isidro de Heredia, a town outside the capital, San Jose, during a ceremony that drew more than 10,000 viewers on a Facebook livestream, NBC News reported.

“You have begun in law what has existed in love,” Ana Cecilia Castro Calzada, the officiant wearing a red face mask, reportedly said. “We celebrate and honor this journey that you have made together as life companions in hope of a day like today: historic for you two and for Costa Rica.”

The wedding was also shown on national TV as part of a three-hour program celebrating marriage equality, BBC reported. 

Larger celebrations recognizing the country legalizing same-sex marriage were reportedly canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Costa Rica Supreme Court ruled that the country’s gay marriage ban was unconstitutional in August 2018. The ruling gave the country’s legislature 18 months to fix it or it would automatically be overturned. 

The general assembly failed to act, causing the ban to lift at midnight Tuesday.

Five other countries in Latin America have legalized gay marriage, but Costa Rica is the first Central American country to allow same-sex marriages.