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Nov 17, 2010
Thousands marched in Argentina’s Gay Pride parade Nov. 6, celebrating the country’s status as the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage and vowing to campaign for new rights for transgender people.
More than 500 same-sex couples have been married since President Cristina Fernandez signed the law on July 21, said Esteban Paulo, president of the Argentine Lesbians, Gay, Bi, and Transgender Federation.
The gay marriage law has been a boon for tourism, said Pablo De Luca, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires. He estimates that 100,000 more gays and lesbians have visited Argentina as a result of the law.
“It’s the same kind of increase that happened in South Africa, Canada and Madrid after they legalized gay marriage,” De Luca said. “We want to travel to a country where we don’t feel like we have to hide our sexuality.”
Gay and lesbian couples still face discrimination – some civil servants have been unwilling to sign their marriage licenses, and the judicial system has been slow to approve adoptions by same-sex couples even though the law now grants them all the rights heterosexual married couples enjoy. Argentina’s dominant Roman Catholic Church remains opposed.
From WiG and AP reports
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