Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in Ecuador may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT

LGBT

LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...

 residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity is legal in Ecuador

Ecuador

Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...

, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for all of the same legal protections available to opposite-sex married couples.

Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

Same-sex sexual activity has been legal in Ecuador since a 1997 landmark decision

Case No. 111-97-TC

Case No. 111-97-TC is a case decided by the Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador on November 25, 1997 that resulted in a landmark decision regarding sodomy laws. The newly created Constitutional Tribunal overturned as unconstitutional the first section of Article 516 of the Penal Code which...

 by the Constitutional Tribunal

Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador

The Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador is the highest court in Ecuador dealing with constitutional issues. It was created as part of Ecuador's 1996 constitutional reform package. It is composed of nine magistrates.The Constitutional Tribunal has been affected by Ecuador's recent political crises...

 overturned as unconstitutional section one of Article 516 of the Penal Code, which previously criminalized sexual activities between persons of the same sex.

The age of consent

Age of consent

While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...

 in Ecuador is 14 regardless of gender

Gender

Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...

 and/or sexual orientation

Sexual orientation

Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...

.

Recognition of same-sex relationships

There is legal recognition of same-sex couples since 2009.

Discrimination protections

In 1998, Ecuador became the first country in the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

 (and only the third worldwide after South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

 and Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

) to include sexual orientation as a protected category in its constitution.

Living conditions

A fairly large gay scene has developed in Quito

Quito

San Francisco de Quito, most often called Quito , is the capital city of Ecuador in northwestern South America. It is located in north-central Ecuador in the Guayllabamba river basin, on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes mountains...

 and Guayaquil

Guayaquil

Guayaquil , officially Santiago de Guayaquil , is the largest and the most populous city in Ecuador,with about 2.3 million inhabitants in the city and nearly 3.1 million in the metropolitan area, as well as that nation's main port...

. Nevertheless, Ecuador still has a conservative and macho culture, and homosexuality continues to be viewed negatively. Until recently institutional homophobia was still viewed: for instance, a 2000 gay pride

Gay pride

LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...

 march was broken up by the police with tear gas.

But in the preceding decade many gay-pride marches has been organized in all major cities, with the authorization of authorities and have received police protection. Also, according to the US Departent of State 2010 Human Rights Report, an LGBT film festival was organized in six Ecuadorian cities in September 2010.

Summary table

Same-sex sexual activity	(since 1997)
Equal age of consent	(since 1997)
Anti-discrimination laws in employment	(since 2009)
Anti-discrimination laws in all other areas	(but pending)
Hate crimes laws covering both sexual orientation and gender identity	(but pending)
Recognition of same-sex couples (e.g. civil unions)	since 2009
Same-sex marriage	(banned)
Adoption by same-sex couples
Gays allowed to serve in the military
Right to change legal gender	(since 2009)
MSM Men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex, regardless of how they identify themselves; many men choose not to accept sexual identities of homosexual or bisexual... s allowed to donate blood	Unknown