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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Kenya: Men Arrested for Planning Gay Wedding Released

Five people arrested in Kenya last week for allegedly planning a same-sex wedding have been freed by police and told to flee their community to avoid trouble. Police said they didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute the case.

Two of the men who were arrested had wedding rings in their possession. According to news reports, police were tipped off to the potential nuptials by local tribal chiefs, who believed that two men were going to get married at a seaside hotel near Mombasa on the southern coast of Kenya.

Although it is illegal for LGBT couples to marry in Kenya, same-sex couples traditionally get together with friends and family to declare their vows. Gay sex is illegal in 36 countries in Africa. South Africa has legalized same-sex marriage, but it remains a hot-button issue there.

Full Story from SDGLN
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CT: Stamford Church Votes to Welcome Gay Couple for Valentines Day Wedding

The oldest church in Stamford celebrated a new tradition Sunday. After a congregation-wide vote last month to allow same-sex marriage ceremonies, the First Congregational Church in Stamford celebrated the marriage of parishioners Joseph Belisle and David Vintinner, the church's first gay union on the eve of its 375th anniversary.

In red boutonnières with their 19-month-old daughter, Faith, between them, the men were greeted with a raucous standing ovation from their family, friends and fellow congregants after the Rev. Cari Jackson pronounced them new husbands.

"This just feels right," Jackson said. "This is representative of that kind of spiritual integrity that has held throughout the church's history." Yet for all its fanfare, the Valentine's Day wedding was bigger than its grooms, she said.

Full Story from the Stamford Advocate
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Kenya: Government Arrests 5 Planning to Attend Gay Wedding After Public Tip

Kenya police on Friday arrested five suspected homosexuals in a coastal resort town after hundreds of residents protested over a planned gay wedding, a local official said. The five were among would-be guests at the wedding, which was meant to be secret. Residents learned about it and alerted the police, who raided a house and nabbed the men.

Homosexuality is illegal in Kenya and it was unclear who was to officiate at the marriage.

Local district official George Matundura said the couple who were to marry escaped from Mtwapa, a vibrant party town to the north of Kenya's coastal city of Mombasa, where the wedding reception was to be held. Matundura said the five -- aged between 20 and 35 -- will "undergo a medical examination before we charge them with homosexuality."

Full Story from AFP
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India: Gay Couple to Marry Next Month

Two men in Mumbai are planning to marry each other. Not quietly, but with a full-fledged Hindu ceremony -- including mehendi, haldi, et al -- the first such wedding in the city. The fact that homosexual marriage is not legal in India does not deter Jignesh (22), a Gujarati from Mulund, who will marry Sameer (25), who lives in Bandra, next month. Narrating his two-year-old love story, Jignesh said, "We love each other. However, society hates us. We have decided to marry to give each other respect. We will marry in a resort away from Mumbai according to Hindu rituals. Our friends and relatives will bless us. We will fight if there is any hurdle to get it registered," he said. The couple had planned to get married on December 31, but had to postpone their plans, as no pandit was willing to perform the ceremony. Full Story from Mid-Day.com

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Colin Farrell Attends Gay Brother's Wedding Party

The wedding celebrations of Colin Farrell’s gay brother were a family affair last night at Krystle nightclub on Harcourt Street in Dublin. Farrell’s brother Eamon was marking his marriage to long-term partner, the Irish artist Steven Mannion. Colin Farrell was in Dublin for the party, bringing his five-year-old son James with him. Colin’s father Eamon Sr., his mother Rita, and his sisters Claudine and Catherine were also at bash, along with other high profile Dublin socialites, according to the Irish Independent. James is Colin Farrell’s first son, whom he had with former girlfriend, American model Kim Bordenave. At an early age the boy was diagnosed with a rare form of cerebral palsy called Angelman Syndrome. The illness causes seizures and problems with balance, and delays a child’s development. But one of its other symptoms is happiness and frequent laughter, caused by changes in the brain’s pathways brought about by the condition. Full Story from Irish Central: http://www.irishcentral.com/ent/Colin-Farrell-bring-son-James-to-brothers-wedding-bash-in-Dublin-80200742.html

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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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Daughter Talks About Gay Fathers' Wedding on YouTube

Chelsea Montgomery-Duban wanted to invite people to see inside her family, so she used YouTube. There, she posted a message told through laughter and tears the speech the 16-year-old gave while standing at the wedding altar of the men she refers to as "Dad" and "Daddy." "According to me, marriage is not just a man and a woman. It is two people who love each other and promise to be together in sickness and in health," Montgomery-Duban says in the video. "Marriage is not even a beautiful white dress. But it is love blossoming between two individuals and the promise that what they have together can only get better." Full Story from the Sun Herald: http://www.sunherald.com/love/story/1624785.html

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