Case No. 111-97-TC is a landmark decision by the Constitutional Tribunal of Ecuador on November 25, 1997, regarding the country's sodomy laws. The newly created tribunal unanimously overturned as unconstitutional the first paragraph of Article 516 of the Penal Code, which criminalized sexual activities between persons of the same sex. The case was the first step towards increasing recognition of LGBT rights in Ecuador. The following year, Ecuador became the first country in the Americas (and only the third in the world after South Africa and Fiji) to include sexual orientation as a protected category in its constitution.