And now we begin to trail behind Latin America
Gay marriage in Argentina is 1st in Latin America
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Two Argentine men were joined Monday in Latin America's first same-sex marriage, traveling to the southernmost tip of the Americas to find a welcoming spot to wed.
Gay rights activists Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre were married in Ushuaia, the capital of Argentina's Tierra del Fuego state, exchanging rings at civil ceremony witnessed by state and federal officials.
"My knees didn't stop shaking," said the 41-year-old Di Bello. "We are the first gay couple in Latin America to marry."
The slim, dark-haired couple previously tried to marry in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires but were thwarted by city officials citing conflicting judicial rulings. Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to provincial officials.
This time around, they traveled to the southernmost city in the world, at the tip of South America, closer to Antarctica than Buenos Aires. The ceremony took place during the region's brief summer thaw.
Tierra del Fuego Gov. Fabiana Rios said in a statement that gay marriage "is an important advance in human rights and social inclusion and we are very happy that this has happened in our state."
An official representing the federal government's antidiscrimination agency, Claudio Morgado, attended the wedding, calling it "historic."
Many in Argentina and throughout Latin America remain opposed to gay marriage, particularly the Roman Catholic Church.
"The decision took me by surprise and I'm concerned," Bishop Juan Carlos, of the southern city Rio Gallegos, told the Argentine news agency DyN. He called the marriage "an attack against the survival of the human species."
Same-sex civil unions have been legalized in Uruguay, Buenos Aires, Mexico City and some states in Mexico and Brazil, but marriage generally carries more exclusive rights such as adopting children, inheriting wealth and enabling a partner to gain citizenship.
Di Bello, an executive at the Argentine Red Cross, met Freyre, 39, executive director of the Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation, at an HIV awareness conference. Both are HIV-positive.
At Monday's indoor ceremony, the grooms wore sport coats without ties, and had large red ribbons draped around their necks in solidarity with other people living with HIV.
Di Bello said the civil registry in the city of Ushuaia initially declined to authorize the marriage but went ahead after the couple received backing from the state of Tierra del Fuego.
"We filed an administrative appeal to the government of Tierra del Fuego, which finally authorized the wedding."
Legal analyst Andres Gil Dominguez said the Tierra del Fuego government appeared to base its authorization on a broad interpretation of the Argentine Constitution and obligations under international treaties.
Gov. Rios said the state's approval was based on a ruling by a Buenos Aires judge who declared two provisions of the constitution discriminatory and gave the go-ahead for the Dec. 1 marriage, which was then blocked by another judge's ruling based on civil law.
Individual provinces may not have final say over same-sex marriages for long.
A bill that would legalize gay marriage was introduced in Argentina's Congress in October but it has stalled without a vote.
Argentina's Supreme Court currently is analyzing appeals by same-sex couples whose marriages were rejected. A Supreme Court justice said on Monday that the high court would likely rule on same-sex marriage in 2010, but could defer to Congress if legislation moves forward.
Only seven countries allow gay marriages: Canada, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. U.S. states that permit same-sex marriage are Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Earlier this month, lawmakers voted to make Mexico City the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. Leftist Mayor Marcelo Ebrard was widely expected to sign the measure into law.
California gay marriage can resume next week-judge
SAN FRANCISCO — A federal judge on Thursday ruled that gay marriages can resume next week in California, while his landmark ruling last week that overturned a ban on same-sex matrimony is appealed.
The order to allow gay marriage will take effect at 5 p.m. PDT on Wednesday.
That will give an appeals court time to consider "in an orderly manner" whether the voter-approved ban, known as Proposition 8, should be left intact while appellate judges weigh the merits of the overall case, U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker ruled.
Both sides expect the case eventually to be appealed up to the U.S. Supreme Court, giving the California legal battle national importance. The case against Prop 8 marks the first major challenge in federal court to a state law barring marriage between same-sex couples.
Gay rights advocates and civil libertarians have cast the legal battle as a fight for equal rights, while opponents, including many religious conservatives, see same-sex marriage as a threat to the traditional family.
Thirty-nine U.S. states have laws explicitly prohibiting gay marriage. Only five states -- Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire -- and the District of Columbia allow same-sex unions.
Thursday's ruling left neither side completely happy.
San Francisco City Hall's steps were lined with gay couples hoping for a green light from Walker to wed and their supporters.
"I think they should have lifted the stay today," said James Olivera, 58, a gay marriage supporter on the steps of San Francisco City Hall.
"God's Holy law has been trampled on by one person," responded Viktor Choban, 27, a supporter of the ban.
Walker ruled last week that Prop 8 violates due-process and equal-protection rights under the U.S. Constitution.
On Thursday he wrote that proponents of the ban had failed to show any irreparable harm that could arise from allowing gay weddings to go forward while the matter is under appeal.
"Proponents had a full opportunity to provide evidence in support of their position and nevertheless failed to present even one credible witness on the government interest in Proposition 8," he wrote.
NO SURPRISE
Walker's decision to delay his ruling doesn't come as a surprise, said Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Legal Rights.
"There's both a political dimension here, and there's a human dimension," Kendell said. "Walker certainly wants to avoid any sort of stutter step when it comes to the ability of people to marry and to do so with some certainty."
A three-judge panel including two leading progressive judges is likely to decide whether to keep the ban in place for the year or more that the appeal takes. The high profile of the case may lead the panel to be cautious.
Charles Cooper, the lead trial attorney for Protectmarriage.com, a supporter of Prop 8, said he expected the appeals court to support voters behind the ban. "The decision whether to redefine the institution of marriage is for the people themselves to make, not a single district court judge, especially without appellate scrutiny," he said in a statement.
Another lawyer for Protectmarriage.com said he expected an appeal of the Thursday decision later in the day or on Friday.
(Reporting by Dan Levine, Courtney Hoffman, Jeremy Pelofsky, Alexandria Sage and Steve Gorman, writing by Peter Henderson, editing by Jackie Frank and Cynthia Osterman)
(humming a happy tune)
