Gay marriage approved in Argentina

November 13, 11:07 PMInternational LGBT Issues ExaminerKelvin Lynch

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Buenos Aires courthouse

Moules Frites/Photostream

A judge in Buenos Aires has granted a gay couple the legal right to get married, making Argentina the first Latin American country to allow full marriage rights to a same-gender couple, according to Reuters.

The ruling by Judge Gabriela Seijus may increase pressure on lawmakers to debate a gay marriage bill that is currently deadlocked in the nation's Congress.

The ruling came as a surprise in the predominantly Catholic country, especially to the couple who filed the lawsuit.

"We are very happy, moved, but we also feel the heavy weight of responsibility because it's not just about us, it's encouraging legal equality in Argentina and the rest of Latin America," Di Bello told Agence France-Presse.

In her ruling, Judge Seijus said, "The law should treat everyone with the same respect according to their singularities, without the need to understand or regulate them." 

Civil unions between same-gender couples in Buenos Aires have been legal since 2002, but the new ruling could have a significant impact on same-gender marriage laws in Argentina, or it could be overturned by civil authorities in the region.  However,  Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri, a conservative, said the government would make no such move.

Macri told reporters, "The world is heading in this direction."

Friday's ruling ordered the civil registry to make official the marriage of Alejandro Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello.,  The couple had been denied their request because they were both men, according to Inquirer.net.

"I am very happy and I join the feeling of Argentine gays, who were repressed for many years," said Marcelo Cerqueira, president of Gay de Bahia, one of the most active gay rights groups in Brazil.

The ruling is a significant move forward in Latin America towards marriage equality and Marci's statement should be taken as a harbinger for the potential of equal rights worldwide, despite religious opposition.

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