Uruguay's Congress to legalize gay unions

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Sep 14 (Reuters) Uruguay's Congress will pass a law to legalize gay and heterosexual civil unions, granting those couples the same rights as married ones, a ruling party Senator has said.

The Senate already passed the bill, and Sen Margarita Percovich told Reuters the lower house is expected to approve it easily given the governing leftist coalition's majority.

The legislation will allow gay and straight couples to form civil unions after living together for at least five years.

''With this initiative, we are recognizing rights that were unclear under the law and which judges did not know how to resolve,'' said Percovich, one of the bill's backers.

''If there is recognition (of the partnership), it's as though it were a marriage,'' she said.

The law would ensure inheritance rights for couples in civil unions and offer other advantages such as shared parental rights and pension benefits.

Gay marriage is still illegal in Uruguay, a tiny South American country squeezed between Argentina and Brazil which is known for its secular streak in a predominantly Roman Catholic continent.

The Argentine capital of Buenos Aires legalized same-sex unions in 2002, in a move hailed as a first in Latin America.

REUTERS VJ RN0530