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Sites and Insights 1 Argentine gay couple defies country's civil union ban, braces for legal battle 1/08 2 Argentine couple seeks recognition of Spanish marriage 2/08 3 Widowed gays win rights in Argentina 8/08 2008 January 21 1 Buenos Aires, Argentina (AP) - Two leaders of Argentina's leading homosexual rights organization were married Monday in Madrid in defiance of their country's ban on gay marriage. Cesar Cigliutti and Marcelo Suntheim said they would demand legal recognition of their marriage in Argentina. "We came to Spain because there is a marriage law here that allows the union of homosexuals and in Argentina there isn't," Cigliutti, president of the Argentine Homosexual Community, told The Associated Press from Madrid. The newlyweds celebrated with friends Monday before a honeymoon in Egypt. The Madrid wedding was made possible by Suntheim's dual citizenship in Argentina and Germany _ allowing him to marry within the European Union. They chose Spain for its cultural similarities to Argentina. Although Argentina does not recognize gay marriage, the Buenos Aires legislature approved a law in 2002 permitting same-sex civil unions, granting gay couples in the Argentine capital economic and family rights similar to those of heterosexual couples. Similar laws are also in place in the Patagonian province of Rio Negro and a small city in the province of Cordoba. Uruguay is the only country in Latin America that has legalized gay civil unions nationwide. Buenos Aires has undergone a gay tourism boom in the past five years, rivaling Rio de Janeiro as the unofficial «gay capital» of South America. The continent's first luxury gay hotel opened in the city in late October. But past attempts by homosexuals to marry in Argentina have been rejected by the judicial system in this predominantly Roman Catholic country. Cigliutti said he and Suntheim, secretary of the Argentine Homosexual Community, will have to fight for recognition in court. "It's not going to be easy. ... But we're already married, Spain recognizes us," said Cigliutti. "We want Argentina to recognize us as well." Same-sex civil unions have recently been recognized by Mexico City, the Mexican state of Coahuila and Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state.
February 01, 2008 2 by Rex Wockner Anyone from the European Union can marry in Spain. Suntheim and Cigliutti were able to tie the knot because Suntheim has dual Argentine and German citizenship. Same-sex marriage also is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Canada has no citizenship or residency requirements for getting married, and foreign same-sex couples often accomplish the deed in a one-day visit. (Assistance: Bill Kelley Filed from San Diego)
August 19, 2008 3 by Jamie Skey The measure is "historic" and marks a "step forward" for human rights because it is the first nationwide gay-rights measure approved by the government, gay activist Pedro Paradiso Sottile told The Associated Press. "The government is moving past words to action," said Sottile, an activist with the 24-year-old Argentine Homosexual Community organization in Buenos Aires. Prior to the new decree, the deceased partners' pensions went directly to the government. "The state was stealing our money," said Alejandra Portatadino, also a member of the Argentine Homosexual Community, calling the previous law "discriminatory" and "anti-constitutional." The organization will now focus efforts on nationalising civil unions, which would confer additional rights to gay couples, such as adoption and inheritance, Mr Sottile said. Buenos Aires was the first Latin American capital city to legalize gay civil unions in 2002. Since then, the Argentine capital has become one of the hotspots on the international gay-friendly tourist circuit, going head-to-head with Rio de Janeiro. |
