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. Argentina’s Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to provincial officials.
The ceremony upset the Roman Catholic Church, which had to take a break from its pedophile priest scandal to condemn the love of this happy gay couple.
“The decision took me by surprise and I’m concerned,” Bishop Juan Carlos, of the southern city Rio Gallegos, told an Argentine news agency. He called the marriage “an attack against the survival of the human species.”
I just checked my newspaper and took a walk around the block. Apparently, the human species is still alive and well. I don’t suppose, given the facts, that Gallegos will issue a “correction” for his embarrassingly idiotic statement. In my view, the church is inviting violence against this couple by claiming they will essentially destroy the world.
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.
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.
Well, it appears the United States continues to fall behind other civilized nations as our Religious Right continues to drag this country down in its quest to take us back to the Dark Ages.
