Civil union passed with seventeen votes in favor

After debating all day, the civil code law, which includes the amendment of civil union that caused a lot of controversies, was approved in the afternoon.

Conclusions as to how this result was reached could be heard throughout the entire day. Marlon Sneek voted against the amendment in 2016. This time there were three more parliamentarians who voted against it, on the first of March. Namely, Hendrik Tevreden, Darlaine Guedez-Erasmus and Robert Candelaria.

This was a triumph for the LGBTQ+ community, even though their goal is to legalize same-sex marriage. This is a good place to start.

Parlamento den reunion publico a vota 17 pro y 4 contra riba amienda di union civil

Parlamento den reunion publico a vota 17 pro y 4 contra riba amienda di union civil. Click e link pa mas https://24ora.news/3kxikiY

Posted by 24ora on Monday, March 1, 2021

The Pride foundation reacted on Facebook immediately by stating: ‘Fundacion Orguyo Aruba appreciates the recognition from the parliament today, which we have been waiting for since 2016, that was approved by the majority and thus civil union became a reality on our island. However, equality does not exist yet, this remains the foundation’s goal, equality for all citizens.”

One of the first parliamentarians who exited after the vote was independent parliamentarian Daphne Lejeuz who said: “Today I leave the parliamentarian hall very satisfied. It is very important that 17 parliamentarians passed the vote for the civil code because it contains many fundamental rights for all citizens of Aruba and not only civil union” she expressed.

She emphasized that the law concerns civil union and not marriage. The civil union counts for men and women as well, and aside from that, there are 800 other changes in the civil code.

 Michael Lampe was not in parliament in 2016 when the amendment was passed. What was remarkable for him was that the majority understood the importance of creating this path to ensure the rights of the partners. “In this sense, nobody is withheld from their rights. It was an important day for Aruba. It forms part of the human rights and Aruba has firm agreements for this that must be complied with.”

“I believe that human rights got a good representation in parliament.  Congratulations to Aruba because parliament safeguarded human rights. Congratulations on the new law,” Cries said, keeping their commentary brief.

 All 21 parliamentarians were present in this meeting and there were no abstentions.