The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus performs on the steps of San Francisco City Hall as gay couples marry inside. Photo credit: Thom Watson

Same-sex bill narrowly passed by Senate; while federal judge rules US Defense of Marriage Act ‘unconstitutional’

Argentina’s gay community will be tangoing in the streets following news that same-sex marriage will be legalised in the country: The country’s Senate voted 33 to 27 in favour of the legislation on Thursday. Although Mexico City also allows gay couples to wed, Argentina becomes the first country in Latin America to allow the same-sex ceremony nationwide. Worldwide, Argentina is the tenth country to allow gay marriage after the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Iceland, Canada, South Africa, Norway, Sweden and Portugal.

Mexico City immediately responded by offering to pay the first couple to benefit from this change in law to go on honeymoon in Cancun. The city’s tourism secretary, Alejandro Rojas, said the offer was “a recognition of tolerance, but first and foremost a way to promote gay tourism in Mexico,” reported the BBC. As it is, “nine gay couples have already married in Argentina after persuading judges the constitutional mandate of equality supports their marriage rights,” remarked The Scotsman. “But,” continued the paper, “same-sex couples from other countries shouldn’t rush their Argentine wedding plans, since only citizens and residents can wed in the country, and the necessary documents can take months to obtain.”

Not everyone in Argentina was happy with the news. “Thousands demonstrated against it in Bueno Aires,” reported the Pink News, while the Pope’s top man in the country, Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, claimed it was the “machination” of the devil”, writing in a letter to the monasteries of Buenos Aires: “Let’s not be naive, we’re not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God.” Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner replied that such sentiments “send us back to medieval times and the Inquisition”. Adolfo Rodriguez Saa, the former President, said: “Argentina has taken a step forward, but out in the street … it will take time for hatred and resentment to heal,” according to Al-Jazeera.

While thousands of protesters braved “the cold wintry air of Buenos Aires to voice opposition to the bill”, its supporters “held candlelight vigils,” through the night, reported The Christian Science Monitor. “The government’s National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Racism organised a public gathering of artists to support the bill.”

And further good news for supporters of gay rights came with news that the US Defense of Marriage Act has been declared unconstitutional by a federal judge. The Act defines the institution as being between a man and a woman. Boston District Judge Joseph L. Tauro said that Congress exceeded its authority in legislating the issue and that the measure infringed states’ rights to regulate marriage, reported Bloomberg Businessweek.