LGBT rights in Ecuador

LGBT rights in Ecuador
Ecuador
Status	Legal since 1997
Gender identity	Transgender people allowed to change legal gender
Military	Unknown
Discrimination protections	Sexual orientation and gender identity constitutional protections
Family rights
Recognition of relationships	Civil unions since 2008 Same-sex marriage since 2019
Adoption	Same-sex couples may not adopt. Single persons not restricted

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Ecuador have evolved significantly in the past decades. Both male and female forms of same-sex sexual activity are legal in Ecuador and same-sex couples can enter into civil unions and same-sex marriages.^[1]

In 1998, Ecuador became one of the first countries in the world to constitutionally ban discrimination based on sexual orientation. Since 2008, civil unions with all of the rights of marriage (except for adoption) have been available to same-sex couples. Additionally, transgender people under the 2016 Gender Identity Law may change their legal gender solely based on self-determination, without undergoing surgery. Ecuador is also one of the few countries in the world to have banned conversion therapy. In 2023, there are still hundreds of clinics that promote conversion therapy.^[2]

In 2013, gay activist Pamela Troya filed a lawsuit to strike down the country's same-sex marriage ban. The lawsuit focused mostly on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights' ruling in Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile and its 2018 opinion on same-sex marriage. The Atala case has caused bans on same-sex marriage in Mexico to be struck down and Chile pledging to legalise same-sex marriage. Additionally, in January 2018, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled that same-sex marriage is a human right protected by the American Convention on Human Rights.^[3] As a result, on 12 June 2019, the Constitutional Court ruled in a 5–4 vote in favor of same-sex marriage, legalising it in Ecuador.^[4]