July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Argentina become the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriage nationwide after an early morning vote that overcame a vigorous lobbying effort by the country’s Roman Catholic Church. After 14 hours of debate, the Senate voted 33-to-27 to approve the bill, which was approved by the lower house in May and is backed by President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
“This is a very significant step in the way of equality,” said Senator Miguel Pichetto, head of the ruling coalition bloc, after the vote. “Having approved the bill is a very positive fact that moves forward equality and freedom principles.”
Thousands of people marched in Buenos Aires streets in the past days at rallies in favor and against same-sex marriage. Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio said July 8 that the proposal isn’t “a political fight but an intention to destroy God’s plan,” according to newspaper InfoBae.com.
“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,” Evan Wolfson, the executive director of the New York-based Freedom to Marry organization, said in an e-mail statement.
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By Eliana Raszewski for Bloomberg
Source: http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a0ymgWEMiZbk
