Latch assemblies for opening and closing openable structures having a housing defining a cavity, a handle movably mounted to the housing, and a latching mechanism between the handle and the housing. The latching mechanism includes at least one guide pin mounted to the housing, a first body movable along the at least one guide pin and having a first latching element extending through the housing, a second body movable along the at least one guide pin and having a second latching element extending through the housing, a first link attached to the first body, a second link attached to the second body, and a link connector operably connecting the first link to the second link, wherein movement of the link connector urges the first latching element and the second latching element apart through movement of the first link and the second link and the first body and the second body.