Argentina on Wednesday welcomed its
first openly gay and married senator, Osvaldo Lopez, Spanish news
agency EFE reported.
Lopez replaced Senator Jose Martinez,
who recently died in a traffic accident.
Lopez married his boyfriend of many
years, Javier Calisaya, in a ceremony on October 10 in the Argentine
municipality of Tierra del Fuego (south).
While several Latin American countries
– Brazil for example – recognize the unions of gay and lesbian
couples, Argentina remains the only country to offer full marriage to
gay couples. The predominantly Roman Catholic nation approved the
law last July.
“We were a couple since 2005 and the
dynamic of our relationship hasn't changed much since the wedding,”
Lopez told reporters, then added that being married made the couple
feel safer. He said he's also considered starting a family with his
husband.
The 39-year-old Lopez said he would
make passage of a bill that would ease the process for transgender
people to alter their identity on government documents a priority
while serving in Congress.
“Every person should be able to
choose the identity he or she feels … the identity with whom you
feel most comfortable,” he said.