Argentina made a bold move in Latin America and legalised gay marriage yesterday! They are the first country in Latin America to declare that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to all the legal rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage gives straight people.
There was a super long marathon debate that only finished just after 4am, in which 33 senators voted in favour, 27 against and 3 abstained. And since the lower house of Argentina's government has already approved the bill, with President Cristina Fernández being a strong supporter, it will become law as soon as it is published in the official bulletin, due to happen in a couple of days.
The new law is expected to bring a whole rush of gay marriages in the already liberal and gay friendly capital of Buenos Aires. However as currently only Argentinian citizens and residents can get married in the country, they are not expecting an influx of overseas visitors to try and take advantage of the new laws.
There was a massive campaign against the bill by the roman Catholic church and some evangelical groups which organized up to 60,000 people to march on congress. Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio whop was one of the leaders in the hate campaign, said "children need to have the right to be raised and educated by a father and a mother".
There were large groups from both camps outside the congress building, kept apart by police, however the vigil passed off peacefully. "Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom to marry movement has come, as 12 countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality" Said a gay rights campaigner
Jason Shaw
"A deeply engaging and personal blog, laced with wit, humour, and a healthy dose of reality" Borstal Boy, Writer, UK.
"Jason has his finger on the pulse of the nation, and declares it dead! His witty, clever and accurate observations amuse and inform" Alex Blair, London.
© 2010 Copyright Jason Shaw
No comments:
Post a Comment