Argentina: Gay Couple Celebrates First Gay Wedding in Buenos Aires

After a series of bumps in the road, Damian Ariel Bernath and Jorge Esteban Salazar, a gay couple who had been authorized last week by Judge Elena Liberatori to get married, they finally made history today by celebrating the first gay marriage in the city of Buenos Aires.

Last Friday Judge Maria del Carmen Gioco had appealed Liberatori's ruling by stating that her decision had to be revoked by the Contentious Administrative Court after she considered it had not made part of the process.

"Attorneys are obligated to follow due process in every case, and to make everyone comply with the law. In this case, the judge denied our unconstitutionality request, and for that reason, the attorney's capability is limited. Hence, the judge understood it was not necessary to communicate her decision to Court," said Florencia Kravetz, the couple's lawyer.

Full Story from the Buenos Aires Herald
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Argentina: Second Gay Marriage OK'd By Judge

A judge on Tuesday authorized two men to marry in Buenos Aires in what would be the country's second same-sex marriage. In December, two Argentine men, Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Bello, became the first homosexuals to legally marry in heavily Roman Catholic Latin America, after the governor of southernmost Tierra del Fuego province allowed them to wed in the provincial capital, Ushuaia.

Judge Elena Liberatori gave her approval to the second couple, two men whose names were not immediately released, to set a date to wed at the Civil Registry.

She said they were exercising their rights even if current laws "are not in line with the times."

Full Story from AFP
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Argentina: Gay Couple Finally Married in Tierra del Fuego

A gay couple who have been fighting for the right to marry in Argentina have tied the knot in Latin America's southernmost state. Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre married yesterday in Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego state where sympathetic state officials backed their bid. They are the first gay couple in Latin America to marry. They wore red sashes around their suits to support HIV awareness and the ceremony was witnessed by state and federal officials. Tierra del Fuego governor Fabiana Rios, who was the first woman to be elected to the position, released a statement praising the ceremony. Full Story from Pink News: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/12/29/gay-couple-become-first-in-latin-america-to-marry/

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Mexico: Analyzing the Effect of Gay Marriage in Mexico City

Gay and lesbians couples can now legally marry and adopt children in Mexico City, after a historic but not necessarily surprising vote in the legislative assembly. The Distrito Federal’s governing representative body is dominated by the leftist PRD, or Democratic Revolutionary Party, and for weeks word had spread on online networks that the Monday vote was coming. It came down beautifully, 39-20, to change the Federal District’s legal code to define a marriage as a union between two willing adults, in effect fortifying a 2006 law already allowing same-sex unions. A separate vote also gave same-sex marriages the right to adopt children. What does this mean for you? If you’re not in a committed same-sex relationship within the borders of the Mexican capital, you’re probably thinking, ‘Not a whole lot.’ But as Time points out, gay-rights advocates across Catholic-heavy Latin America are hoping that the Mexico City vote could create a ripple-effect in other regions: Full Story from The Faster Times: http://thefastertimes.com/mexico/2009/12/27/the-meaning-of-the-gay-marriage-vote-in-mexico-city/

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Overview: Gay Rights in South America

In 2002, Argentina was at the forefront of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) rights debate when it became the first country in the region to allow same-sex civil unions. After this landmark decision, other countries such as Mexico, Ecuador, Uruguay, and even Spain followed suit. On November 13th, 2009, Judge Gabriela Seijas once again put Buenos Aires ahead of its neighbors by ruling that the Argentine government must recognize the marriage of José María Di Bello and Alex Freyre, a same-sex couple. This decision makes Argentina the first Latin American country to attempt to institutionalize same-sex marriage. Despite the temporary block of Di Bello and Freyre’s wedding, ordered by a national judge on December 1st, Argentines will soon be engaged in a battle over the deadlocked debate when the country’s Congress and Supreme Court take up the issue in the coming months. With regard to the rest of the region, the pending question is whether or not other countries will once again follow in Argentina’s footsteps regarding the legalization of same-sex marriage. As leftist governments continue to be elected throughout the region, the LGBT movement is approaching a crossroad: will these governments honor their stated values of equality and protect the gay community? Or, will a deeply-rooted, conservative Catholicism continue to prevent equal status for all members of society? As these progressive governments consolidate their bases on the basis of promises to the poor and disenfranchised, they must extend some of the same promises to the LGBT community. On this issue Argentina is unique in its regional context because it has now twice been the first to initiate the granting of equal status for its LGBT citizens. So far, several Latin American governments, like Argentina, are also moving to fulfill some of their promises and apposite principles by extending some rights through the institutionalization of same-sex civil unions, much to the chagrin of conservatives, religious leaders and others. In the meantime, the Argentine LGBT community will continue to commemorate the country’s willingness to be the first to tackle this contentious issue. Full Story from Scoop.co.nz: http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0912/S00539.htm

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Argentina: Gay Community Launches Effort to Win Marriage Equality

Argentina's gay community launched Tuesday a major bid to compel the government to legalize same-sex marriage, saying they planned to file dozens of simultaneous appeals across the country. "On Tuesday or Wednesday of next week we will be filing at least 50 appeals at court in Buenos Aires and in 14 provinces," said Maria Rachid, president of a leading national gay rights group. The coordinated effort comes as Argentina's Supreme Court considers whether to allow gay marriage, two weeks after a lower court blocked what would have been Latin America's first legal wedding between two men. Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, are demanding to be legally married following a November 13 court ruling that ordered civil officials in Buenos Aires to recognize their union. Full Story from AFP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jA-x27kWZ8Qf2q60dNpjf31S12oQ

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Argentina: How the Fight for Gay Marriage is Playing Out

There were rose petals and rice on the ground in front of the civil registry in Buenos Aires. But in the end they weren't for Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello, the gay couple hoping to achieve Latin America's first same-sex marriage. On the eve of their wedding day last week, a national judge overturned a city court decision to issue them a marriage license. The couple came to the registry anyway, vowing not to leave until they were wed. Protesters quietly mingled among the crowd of supporters. Roxanna Olivera, 33, wore a tie-dye rainbow shirt that said, "Jesus is Your Alternative." "What will we tell our children," she said watching the gay rights supporters waving flags and chanting for Alex and Jose. "There's a law of God we need to follow." Full Story from the Global Post: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/argentina/091209/gay-marriage

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Argentina: Buenos Aires Mayor Refuses to Confirm Gay Wedding, May Be Sued

A gay couple in Buenos Aires have demanded that City Mayor Mauricio Macri be fined after failing to authorise their union - despite a legal ruling requesting him to do so. According to the Buenos Aires Herald newspaper, Alejandro Freyre and José María Di Bello, made the formal request to City Judge Gabriela Seijas this week. The couple requested that the court set a fine on Macri for each of the days until they are allowed to wed. On Monday, Freyre and Di Bello went to a Civil Registry in the City neighbourhood of Barrio Norte, after Judge Seijas' court ruled that the law barring same-sex marriages was unconstitutional. Full Story from the Pink Paper: http://news.pinkpaper.com/NewsStory.aspx?id=2097

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Argentina: Supreme Court Agrees to hear Gay Marriage Case

Supreme Court Justice Carlos Fayt said the highest tribunal is currently analyzing a ruling on the possible legalization of same-sex marriages, as the first gay wedding, scheduled for today, had been suspended following a court injunction. Alex and José María, two leaders of the gay community, were given permission to wed today by a Civil Registry in Buenos Aires, after a local court said two articles of the Civil Code that restricted marriages to heterosexuals was unconstitutional. Yesterday, another local court ordered a halt on the wedding, following an injunction presented by a third party. Legal experts have criticized the ruling saying the issue falls outside local jurisdiction and that it should be decided by the Supreme Court instead. Full Story from the Buenos Aires Herald: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/18833

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Argentina: Judge Intervenes to Halt Gay Couple's Wedding

A gay couple in Buenos Aires, Argentina, have had their wedding halted after a judge intervened at the last minute. Jose Maria Di Bello and partner Alex Freyre planned to marry today on World AIDS Day after Judge Gabriela Seijas ruled last month that the ban on gay marriage violated Argentina's constitution. But yesterday, Judge Marta Gomez Alsina ruled that the first judge did not have the authority to give the couple permission to marry. Alsina wrote: "The decision I have adopted should not be interpreted as … discrimination against the rights of homosexuals." Full Story from Pink News: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2009/12/01/last-minute-ruling-halts-first-latin-american-gay-wedding/

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Argentina: Gay Couple's Wedding Tuesday Divides South America

The Beruti register office in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires will never have witnessed a marriage like it. On Tuesday, Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello, who met three years ago at a conference on HIV, will make history and divide a continent as they become Latin America's first gay married couple. The ceremony will be a tribute to their determination as well as their love for each other, after a bitter three-year campaign which has divided a city, outraged Argentina's powerful Roman Catholic church and overturned the constitution. Freyre and Di Bello's forthcoming nuptials have been debated on television, in churches and on the street. Hostile posters can be found on billboards across the city. But, in Di Bello's words, nothing can now prevent him and his partner becoming "husband and husband". Full Story from The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/29/latin-america-first-gay-wedding

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Argentina: Former Deputy Mayor of Buenos Airies Would Have Appealed Gay Marriage Decision

Former City deputy mayor Gabriela Michetti (PRO) today said she "would not have authorized" same-sex marriage in the City of Buenos Aires, criticizing the decision of Mayor Mauricio Macri not to appeal against the ruling of a court allowing a gay couple to marry. Michetti told reporters that "homosexual marriage and heterosexual marriage are not the same, and the stances of Mauricio (Macri) and the head of the Argentine Church, Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, are not compatible." The deputy-elect added that her relationship with Mauricio Macri would "never turn bad", as "he is like an uncle for (her) son and (she) is like an aunt for his children," she said. "The trust we share allows me to say what I think." Full Story from the Buenos Aires Herald: http://www.buenosairesherald.com/BreakingNews/View/18645

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Argentina: Parliament Considering Gay Marriage Legalization Nationwide

This week a gay couple in Argentina has received the country's first marriage license. A judge ruled last week that stopping the couple from marriage is a violation of the country's constitutional guarantee to equality. The decision makes Argentina the first country in Latin America to allow same sex marriage. The ruling does not extend beyond the specific case, but Argentina's parliament is now debating two measures that could legalize same sex marriage outright. FSRN'S Marcos Federman has more from Buenos Aires. Full Story from Free Speech Radio News: http://www.fsrn.org/audio/audio-tag-title-raw/5767

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Argentina: Gay Couple Granted Marriage License in Buenos Aires

Two men were granted a marriage license in Argentina's capital on Monday, breaking ground in a country and region where laws ban gay marriage. Jose Maria Di Bello and his partner Alex Freyre won the right to get married when a judge ruled last week that a ban on gay marriage violates Argentina's constitution. "On December 1st we will become man and man," said Di Bello, welling up in tears as a city clerk gave him the paperwork. Buenos Aires Mayor Mauricio Macri said the city will not appeal - in effect inviting other same-sex couples to pursue their rights in court as well. "We have to live with and accept this reality: the world is moving in this direction," Macri said Friday, adding that it is important officials "safeguard the right of each person to freely choose with whom they want to form a couple and be happy." Full Story from the Sacramento Bee: http://www.sacbee.com/836/story/2328875.html?storylink=lingospot_related_articles

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Argentina: Gay Marriage Bills Being Considered in Congress

Amid a maelstrom of opinions on the subject, the House of Representatives will begin to discuss two bills that enable same-sex marriages on Friday. The legislative bills were driven by the deputies Silvia Augsburger (MSZP) and Vilma Ibarra (Popular and Social Encounter) and they aim to “give people the freedom to choose with whom to meet the commitments of cohabitation, regardless of whether they are from the same or different sex.” The projects, which will be discussed at a joint plenary of the General Law Committee, and the Family, Women, Children and Adolescents Lower House of Argentina, seek an amendment to Article 172 of the Civil Code to replace the term “man and woman” by “spouses” without reference to the sex of the people who consumate a marriage. Full Story from Momento 24: http://momento24.com/en/2009/10/28/congress-begins-to-debate-gay-marriage/

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