SAN JOSE – The National Assembly of Costa Rica has stalled the advancement of gay rights, according to statements made by the president of Sala Cuarta (Constitutional Hall), the country’s highest court. In an interview with Amy Ross and Ferlin Fuentes of national newspaper La Nacion, Senior Magistrate Ana Virginia Calzada explained that, with regard to the rights of same-gender couples, the National Assembly -and not Constitutional Hall- should look into the matter.

The Family Code of Costa Rica, contained in Law Number 5476, prevents unions between members of equal gender, a provision that gay rights activists have brought up before Sala Cuarta in the past. The National Assembly and the High Court have passed the issue back and forth over the last few years. The latest statement by the court’s President indicates that there is not much they can do since it is a legislative, rather than constitutional, matter.

The matter has been argued in Costa Rica since 2006, but it is once again gathering steam thanks to a recent announcement by President Barack Obama. In the United States, the rights of gay couples to marry has been left mostly to the discretion of the different states of the Union due to their jurisdictional status. When a high court in North Carolina ruled that a ban on gay marriage is constitutional in that state, a polemic broke out among activists, politicians and the public. President Obama, who is campaigning for reelection, offered a supportive view of the rights of gay couples to marry.

Even in Cuba there seems to be a burgeoning support of gay rights and equality. Mariela Castro, the daughter of current Cuban leader Raul Castro and niece of the iconic Fidel Castro, is a gay rights advocate who welcomed President Obama’s comments. She added that her father is against gender discrimination, and she hopes that gay marriage will be legalized in the Caribbean island nation soon -something that would mark a drastic paradigm shift in Cuba.