Guatemala Legislature Drops Restrictive Family Bill

After public criticism from Human Rights Watch, Guatemalan legislators dropped their efforts to pass a bill that would have barred same-sex couples and single parents and their children from being legally defined as family. Our open letter drew attention to the potentially devastating impact of the proposal on these families, and helped mobilize civil society opposition to the bill, which most observers assumed would pass. The bill also threatened the legal status of children conceived through reproductive technologies. Going forward, we will continue to monitor and oppose efforts to pass laws that violate the basic right to a family.