Argentina The First South America Country to Allow Gay Marriage. Uruguay to Follow

The final vote split both the governing coalition and the opposition, with lawmakers on both sides saying they went with their convictions.

Sen. Juan Perez Alsina, usually a loyal supporter of the president, called marriage between a man and a woman "essential for the preservation of the species."

But others compared the discrimination closeted gays face to the oppression millions suffered under Argentina's dictatorship years ago, and urged their fellow senators to show the world how much Argentina has matured. "Society has grown up. We aren't the same as we were before," Sen. Daniel Filmus said.

Same-sex civil unions have been legalized in Uruguay and some states in Mexico and Brazil, and the Colombian Constitutional Court has granted same-sex couples inheritance rights and allowed them to add their partners to health insurance plans.

Mexico City went even further, not only legalizing gay marriage but launching a tourism campaign to encourage foreigners to come and wed. On Thursday, Mexico City officials offered a free honeymoon in Mexico to the first gay couple to wed under the new Argentine law.

Argentina doesn't allow non-resident foreigners to tie the knot, but it is likely to draw more gay tourists who already spend millions in the country's economy, said Pablo De Luca, founder of the Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce in Buenos Aires.

"The fact that we are the first country in Latin America that respects the rights of the gay community by law sends a solid message that makes Argentina even more attractive," said De Luca, who estimates that 18 percent of the tourists who come to Argentina are gay or lesbian.

Argentina now sets a new standard for other countries in the hemisphere.

"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom-to-marry movement has come, as 12 countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality," said Evan Wolfson, who runs the U.S. Freedom to Marry lobby.

Wolfson urged U.S. lawmakers to follow suit: "America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."

Gay activists in neighboring Chile hope Argentina's milestone will improve chances for a gay-marriage law currently in committee in their own Congress.

"Argentina's political class has provided a lesson to the rest of Latin America," said Rolando Jimenez in the Chilean capital, Santiago. "We hope our own countries and political parties will learn that the human rights of sexual minorities are undeniable."

Activists in Paraguay plan to propose a similar law in October, said Martin Viveros of the group Somosgay. And in Uruguay, gays unsatisfied with the partial civil-union rights are preparing legislation to replace "man and woman" with references to "spouse" throughout the civil code.

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