Chilean president signs same-sex marriage law

A Chilean law permitting same-sex couples to marry and adopt was signed into law Thursday by President Sebastián Piñera in a ceremony attended by activists for LGBT and broader human rights.

The ceremony came a little more than six months after the conservative leader surprised many by saying he would smooth the way for a marriage equality law that had long been stuck in the nation's Congress.

Activists said the measure will help hundreds of children and adolescents who until now have been unable to have legal protection from both parents. Similar laws have been adopted in several Latin American nations in recent years.