Mario Domingos Grego and Gledson Perrone Cordeiro married Saturday in San Paulo, becoming the first gay couple to marry in the city without judicial intervention.

According to the Spanish news agency EFE, the wedding was held at the office of one of the city's notaries.

Grego, 46, and Cordeiro, 32, exchanged vows and received a certificate of marriage.

Brazil, Latin America's most populous nation, currently recognizes gay and lesbian couples with stable unions. Last year, two men were allowed by a state court judge to legally change their stable union into a full marriage. The decision prompted several gay couples to petition the court system to convert their unions into marriage, with mixed rulings.

The couple wore shirts emblazoned with a photo of themselves calling for equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.

“It was emotional, a conquest of a right we've been attempting for years,” said Grego.

Gay couples can legally marry in Argentina and the city-state of Mexico City.