Bogota, Apr 25 (IANS/EFE): The Colombian Senate Wednesday voted 51-17 to reject the same-sex marriage bill after debate on the measure was postponed twice.
The Senate thus derailed the effort seeking to legalize same-sex marriage in the second of four debate sessions. For the bill to continue being debated the votes of 52 of the country's 102 senators would have been required.
Now, the promoters of the bill will have to wait until the next legislative session to present the bill again.
Outside Congress, on Bogota's central Bolivar Square, opponents of the initiative, who demonstrated during the lawmakers' debates on it, celebrated the decision.
Sen. Armando Benedetti of the Social Party of National Unity, or the governing Party of the U, in August 2011 presented the bill, which sparked great controversy in the upper chamber and among all parties.