Colombia's Marriage Equality Limbo

From The Advocate: 

“Colombia’s Constitutional Court in 2011 ruled gays and lesbians can legally register their relationships on June 20 if the country’s lawmakers failed to extend to them the same benefits heterosexuals receive through marriage,” the Washington Blade notes. “The Colombian Senate in April overwhelmingly rejected a measure that would have allowed same-sex couples to tie the knot in the South American country.” 

The ruling did not use the term “marriage” but said couples could “formalize and solemnize their contractual link” before a notary or a judge. Some officials have said this excluded the possibility of equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, but Colombia’s attorney general, Eduardo Montealegre Lynett, “said notaries and judges are free to interpret the court’s decision” as they wish, the Blade reports, citing a Colombian newspaper.