Gay couple marries in Argentina
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Two Argentine men have become the first gay couple in Latin America to marry.
Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the
southern province of Tierra del Fuego.Gay marriage is illegal in Argentina. However, the Tierra del Fuego governor issued a special
decree allowing the couple to wed there.A judge in the capital, Buenos Aires, prevented the couple from marrying there earlier this
month.The men, who are both HIV-positive, had planned to get married on 1 December, world Aids
day.They eventually travelled to Tierra del Fuego, where they received the support of provincial
governor Fabiana Rios.Although Argentina's civil code bans gay marriage, the constitution is silent on the matter.
Correspondents say the governor exploited this grey area and gave the two men a special
dispensation."We're extremely excited and happy about what this means for all gays and lesbians in
Argentina," Mr Di Bello said.Several Latin American countries or cities have legalised same-sex civil unions, but these
generally confer fewer legal rights than marriage. -
Several Latin American countries or cities have legalised same-sex civil unions, but these
generally confer fewer legal rights than marriage.Civil Unions are always inferior to marriage, because even if the country makes the them completely equal, international law refuses to accept them as equal to marriage.
Also, once gays get civil unions, the government says we got our equality, even though you can easily prove it's not equal, so they won't do anything else for us.
