National

Article 23 Section 3 of the 1998 constitution of Ecuador provides that:

"Equality before the law. All individuals shall be considered equal and shall enjoy the same rights, freedoms, and opportunities, without discrimination due to birth, age, sex, ethnicity, color, social origin, language, religion, political affiliation, economic position, sexual orientation, health status, disability, or difference of any other kind" [R1.1]. The new constitution came into effect in August 1998 [R1.2].

However gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) people in the country continue to suffer human rights violations, according to Amnesty International [R1.3].

Most reported cases took place in the cities of Quito and Guayaquil.

National

In June 2002, the government in Ecuador was reported to have systematically denied medical care and the provision of anti-retroviral medications to persons living with HIV/Aids [R1].

National

In 1997, consensual sex between same-sex couples was decriminalised [R1.1].

Previously:

In October 1997, Ecuador's Constitutional Tribunal unanimously declared the nation's gay-sex ban unconstitutional [R1.2].

Article 516 of the Penal Code, punished gay sex with four to eight years in prison [R1.3].

National

Ecuador's draft constitution may give same-sex partners parity with marriage [R1.1].