The City of Mendoza will host
Argentina's first gay wedding.
Argentina became the first country in
Latin America to legalize gay marriage on Wednesday when Argentine
President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner ratified the law approved by
lawmakers.
Some reports stated that the first
wedding was to be held in Buenos Aires on August 13.
But Argentina's Los Andes is
reporting that Medonza will beat the capital city with a
wedding on July 31.
Giorgio Nocentino, 44, and Jaime
Zapata, 52, will tie the knot after 22 years together.
“In our life, almost nothing will
change, we will only be legally protected if something happens to
us,” Nocentino, a fashion designer, said. “”Being the first,
we hope to lead by example.”
Zapata, who works with retirees, said
the wedding was a dream and thanked everyone for an outpouring of
good wishes.
In signing the law, President Fernandez
said: “Today we are a society a little more equal than last week.”
Two of Argentina's neighbors, Uruguay
and Paraguay, are expected to consider gay marriage bills, and
Chile
is considering a bill that recognizes gay and lesbian couples with
civil unions.
Mexico City officials have offered a
free honeymoon to the first gay couple to marry in Argentina.
Gay and lesbian couples can also marry in the Mexican capital, a fact
on which tourism officials hope to capitalize.