Argentine Men Become 1st Gay Couple in Latin
America
BUENOS AIRES - Two slim, dark-haired
Argentine men traveled to a remote seaside
fishing village at the end of South America
to tie the knot on Monday, becoming the
first same-sex marriage in Latin America,
according to media reports Tuesday.
Gay rights activists Jose Maria Di Bello and
Alex Freyre were married in Ushuaia, the
capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego
state, exchanging rings at an informal
ceremony witnessed by state and federal
officials.
The couple's wished to marry in the
Argentine capital of Buenos Aires but were
thwarted by city officials citing
conflicting judicial rulings.
Di Bello, an executive at the Argentine Red
Cross, met Freyre, 39, executive director of
the Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation, at an HIV
awareness conference. Both are HIV-positive.
At Monday's indoor civil ceremony,
41-year-old Di Bello, an executive at the
Argentine Red Cross and Freyre 39, executive
director of the Buenos Aires AIDS
Foundation, wore sport coats without ties
and had large red ribbons draped around
their necks in solidarity with other people
living with HIV.
They met at an HIV awareness conference and
both are HIV-positive.
Argentina's Constitution is silent on
whether marriage must be between a man and a
woman. A Supreme Court justice said on
Monday that the high court would likely rule
on issues of same-sex marriage sometime in
2010, but could defer to Congress if
legislation moves forward.
Many in Argentina and throughout Latin
America remain opposed to gay marriage,
particularly the Roman Catholic Church, but
same-sex civil unions have been legalized in
Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and some
states in Mexico and Brazil.
An official representing the federal
government's antidiscrimination agency
attended the wedding. Claudio Morgado called
Monday's marriage "historic."
Only seven countries in the world allow gay
marriages: Canada, Spain, South Africa,
Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium.
U.S. states that permit same-sex marriage
are Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont,
Connecticut and New Hampshire.
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
