Colombia’s Constitutional Court has granted custody to a gay father who had been separated from his adopted children, essentially legalizing gay adoption in the country.
The adopted sons of U.S. citizen Chandler Burr were taken away by Colombia’s Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) but the court has ordered that they be returned.
According to the court’s statement, the ICBF had “taken for granted that the petitioner’s sexual orientation would have affected the outcome of the adoption process or generated a threat to the rights of children, ‘without ever explaining’ the reasons on which they based their conclusions.”
Burr and his two sons have been separated since March 2011. Althouth the children had expressed their desire to be with their father, these wishes were not respected by the ICBF.
The court’s ruling said that the ICBF’s power to seize children and put them in foster care “cannot rely on appearances, preconceptions or prejudices,” and that the court’s decision on the matter supersedes all previous resolutions from the ICBF.
Colombia’s leading gay rights group Colombia Diversa celebrated the news by tweeting “individual adoption legitimized for LGBT persons in Colombia with Burr case” more than 75 times.