Chile: Court apologises to judge denied access to her daughters because she is gay
The Chilean Government issued an apology to a lesbian judge who was denied custody of her three children because she is gay.
On Friday, during a ceremony led by Justice Minister Teodoro Ribera, Magistrate Karen Atala was told she would receive $70,000 (£43,300), and would have her medical and psychological treatment covered, reported CTV news.
The apology comes ten months after the Inter-American Court of Human Rights criticised the decision by Chile’s Supreme Court to uphold an order removing Ms Atala’s children from her and giving their father custody because of Ms Atala’s sexual orientation.
Chile’s Supreme Court had ruled that the girls were in a “position of risk” and could become “objects of social discrimination” and have hindered “psychic development” by living with the judge and her female partner.
Two of Ms Atala’s daughters are now adults, and the third is a teenager.
