A gay male couple from Sochi, Russia on
Tuesday married in Argentina.
According to Reuters, Alexander
Eremeev, 45, and Dmitry Zaytsev, 37, exchanged vows before a judge at
a civil registry in Buenos Aires.
The men said they suffered
discrimination in Sochi, host of the just-ended Winter Olympics, and
would seek asylum in Argentina.
“We are very happy to be able to do
this after so many years,” Eremeev said in Russian to a media
scrum. “We have known each other for a long time. We've been
wanting to do this. We also want to thank Argentina – this
magnificent country which gave us the possibility to formalize our
romantic relationship.”
Russia has been heavily criticized for
enacting several anti-gay laws during the lead up to the Sochi Games.
Opponents claim the laws promote homophobia, which has led to
increasing physical and verbal attacks against LGBT people.
According to the
AP, Russians are increasingly citing gay marriage in asylum
cases.