Ecuador’s highest court has authorised same-sex marriage, in a landmark case seeking to expand LGBT rights in the small South American nation.
The country’s constitutional court made the decision after a lengthy legal battle put forward by several couples and gay rights advocates.
With the five to four ruling, Ecuador joins a handful of Latin American nations, Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Colombia and Uruguay, that have legalised same-sex marriage either through judicial rulings, or less frequently, legislative action.
Plaintiff Efrain Soria said he would immediately begin planning a wedding with his partner, Xavier Benalcazar, whom he met years ago and has been in a civil union since 2012.
Same-sex unions have been legal in Ecuador for a decade but civil partners enjoy fewer rights than married couples when it comes to inheritance and estate laws.
In the ruling, the justices instructed congress to pass legislation ensuring equal treatment for all under the country's marriage law.
The ruling is "a joy for our entire community and Ecuador", said Mr Soria, who is also president of the Ecuadorian Equality Foundation, an LGBT rights group.
A decision by the Inter-American Court on Human Rights affirming that countries should allow same-sex couples the right to marry paved the way for the case.
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