Over 100 gay and lesbian couples have
married in the first 30 days since Argentina became the first country
in Latin America to legalize gay marriage.
Architect Juan Carlos Navarro, 54, and
Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, inaugurated the law on Friday, July 30 in
provincial Santiago del Estero.
The Navarro-Calefato wedding made
history after it leapfrogged ahead of another couple, Alejandro
Vanelli and Ernesto Larresse, who married two hours later in Buenos
Aires. Navarro said the couple was not driven by the desire to be
the first, but by the desire to be legally married.
Seventy-two male couples and thirty-one
female couples have also tied the knot during the law's first 30
days.
Officials say they have received over
300 applications from gay couples looking to adopt a child.
The average age of men marrying was 57
and couples had been living together at least ten years. Many said
they decided to marry because one of the partners was ill.
Buenos Aires, the nation's largest
city, has scheduled 38 weddings for September. Other couples said
they would wait to marry until after the media frenzy dies down.