The first speaker, Ryçond Santos do Nascimento, vehemently opposes the change to allow same-sex marriage, as can be read in a previous article. The following speaker, Marco Berlis, went on to say that same-sex marriage is not a human right, according to the ECHR (European Court of Human Rights). He pointed out the fact that out of 125 nations in the world, only 35 have approved the law.
Therefore, he says that each nation has the right to choose how to address the issue.He feels that we are living in an era where “our values and principles in society are being redefined. There is a power that wants to redefine our society on issues that are already defined.” For him, the definition of marriage is between a man and a woman. He went on to show that in Canada, a person is able to marry a doll and in other places you can marry a plant. These so-called marriages cannot be tolerated.
Parliamentarian Guedez-Erasmus stated that Aruba has 40 Christian churches, excluding those that are not registered. So one must take into account that 75% of the population is Catholic, which oppose the idea of same-sex marriage.
Parliamentarian Mike de Meza, on the other hand, said he did not come to criticize any person, group, or organizations. The fact is that it is a big topic in many countries around the world, and even laws that did not exist before were created to allow civil marriage between same-sex couples. The politician went on to say that article 1 of the Constitution states that everyone has equal rights; everyone should be treated the same way; and nobody should face discrimination.
This is not about religious beliefs but simply the right of every citizen. And it has been shown that there are 500 million people in the world with a different sexual orientation whose rights cannot be ignored.
Mervin Wyatt Ras, on her part, admitted that the topic is controversial and touches on many taboos, values and norms. However, it is not something new since a law was passed in 2016 that adapted this through an amendment and allowed registered partnerships in the new Civil Code law.
