Chile Senate approves civil union law

The Chilean Senate approved a legal framework that guarantees equal rights to couples of the same or opposite sex out of wedlock on Tuesday.

The project known as Couples Life Agreement (AVP for its Spanish acronym), was sent to the Senate by President Sebastián Piñera in 2011, before being modified by the current President Michelle Bachelet and now is expecting to pass to the House of Representatives.

This new legislation represents a complete system that gives the AVP a category of marital status.