Two Argentine men on Tuesday became the first homosexuals to legally marry in Latin America, after the governor of the country's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province permitted their wedding.
Two Argentine men on Tuesday became the first homosexuals to legally marry in Latin America, after the governor of the country's southernmost Tierra del Fuego province permitted their wedding.
"We got married today in Ushuaia," an exultant Alex Freyre told the Todos Noticias news channel in Buenos Aires by telephone.
Mexico City Gives the Nod for Gay Marriage
Mexico City's legislature has for the first time approved gay marriage.
Mexico City's legislature has for the first time approved gay marriage.
The wedding came one week after Mexico City's lawmakers voted to allow gay marriages, in another first for Latin America.
Although the Argentine civil code does not recognize same sex marriages, a court had approved the wedding of Alex Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, before it was challenged pending the outcome of a Supreme Court appeal.
Buenos Aires Allows Gay Marriage in Latin America
An Argentine judge paved the way for gay marriage when she granted a homosexual couple permission to marry in a first for Latin America, the world's biggest Catholic region.
An Argentine judge paved the way for gay marriage when she granted a homosexual couple permission to marry in a first for Latin America, the world's biggest Catholic region.
"We knew the governor was a person who sympathized with this cause," said Di Bello.
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Jamaican PM: New Constitution Should Ban Gay Marriage
Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the country's parliament would not recognize same-sex marriage while he was in power.
Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding said the country's parliament would not recognize same-sex marriage while he was in power.
However, on the eve of the wedding, a second judge put the ceremony on hold to await the Supreme Court decision.
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New York 'Wedding Chapel' Offers Gay Marriage Service Despite State Ban
People come to Ave Maria as lovers and leave 10 minutes later as husband and husband, married in a New York chapel despite a ban on gay marriage in the state.
People come to Ave Maria as lovers and leave 10 minutes later as husband and husband, married in a New York chapel despite a ban on gay marriage in the state.
The wedding was "a step forward toward judicial equality for every man and woman" in Argentina, Di Bello said Tuesday.
"We believe that more homosexual couples will be able to marry in Ushuaia."
No Latin American country recognizes gay marriages but Mexico City's legislature approved them last week, to be applied from February, in a controversial first for the traditionally conservative continent.
A group of Catholic lawyers said Monday in Mexico City that they would carry out "peaceful resistance" in the courts to gay weddings.
The Argentine capital became Latin America's first city to approve civil unions in 2002. Buenos Aires grants gay couples some, but not all rights enjoyed by heterosexual married couples.
Tiny Uruguay has recently spearheaded liberal changes in Latin America with the approval of a sex change law, adoptions by gay couples as well as civil unions for gays.
Colombia also allows civil unions for gays, while an attempt to specifically ban gay marriages recently failed in El Salvador.
As Tuesday's marriage added to pressure for change in Argentina, the president of a leading gay rights group said she hoped lawmakers would next year take up a measure to change the civil code, which currently defines marriage as being between a man and a woman.
"There is sufficient consensus to pass the law at the beginning of the coming year," said Maria Rachid.
Source-AFP
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