A same-sex union bill that was approved by a lower house of Colombia's congress last week was thrown out after a group of senators used a procedural vote to change their votes, according to a wire report:
“The bill, backed by President Alvaro Uribe but opposed by the Roman Catholic Church, would grant gay couples living together for more than two years the same social security and estate inheritance guarantees as heterosexuals in common-law marriages. It would have been the first nationwide law of its kind in Latin America. Supporters say they will reintroduce the bill in the next legislative session.”
UPDATE: Here's more on what went down. It was the religious wingnuts, of course:
“Sen. Manuel Virguez Piraquive, from a small party closely linked to an evangelical Colombian church, called for an unusual floor vote on the bill. Other conservative lawmakers then broke ranks with the pro-Uribe faction backing the bill and it was defeated, 34-29, in the 102-member Senate. Many of the bill's supporters were absent. The call for an individual votes was unusual, and some said unprecedented. Parties usually vote as blocs on the final, reconciled versions of bills in Colombia's legislature.”