[JURIST] The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador [official website, in Spanish] on Thursday approved a measure to amend the constitution [text, PDF, in Spanish] to limit marriage and adoption to couples with only one man and one woman. The bill would make same-sex marriages made outside of El Salvador have no legal validity in El Salvador. A similar legislative attempt failed in 2009 [IPS report]. The bill must be ratified by a two-thirds majority [press release, in Spanish] during the 2015-2018 legislative session in order to take effect.

Same-sex marriage [JURIST backgrounder] has been controversial globally in recent years, particularly in Latin America. Earlier this month, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet signed a law that recognizes civil unions between same-sex couples [JURIST report], a move hailed by advocates as a step toward full marriage rights. In 2013 Uruguay joined Argentina as the only South American countries to legalize same-sex marriage [JURIST report]. In May 2012 the City of Buenos Aires passed a resolution [JURIST report] to recognize same-sex marriages for non-citizens.