04/18/2008
Gay Wedding in Uruguay a First for Latin America
On Thursday, Adrian Figuera, 38, and actor and theater director Juan Carlos Moretti, 67, were married in Montevideo, Uruguay in Latin America's first same-sex wedding.
Agence France Presse reports: "Moretti later told AFP that after living together for 14 years, he and Figuera thought their marriage was 'a matter of justice and a step forward for Uruguayan society.' The so-called 'cohabitation union law' went into effect on January 1, allowing heterosexual and homosexual couples living together for at least five years to receive the same legal rights and benefits that traditional marriage bestows."
Last December, Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez signed Latin America's first nationwide same-sex civil union law. It went into effect on January 1.
Sphere: Related ContentPosted 8:52 AM EST by Andy in Gay Marriage, News, Uruguay | Permalink
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I always find it amusing when absolutely, undeniably gay news is posted, the commenters complaining about news NOT being gay or gay enough aren't available or for some mysterious reason have absolutely nothing to say.
Una boda trae otra ;) Viva Uruguay!
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Apr 18, 2008 11:33:34 AM
y Felicidades!
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Apr 18, 2008 11:34:50 AM
Congratulations to the couple and congratulations to Uruguay.
Andy, it does us no favors to post a headline that a gay couple was married in a wedding when in reality they actually had something other than a marriage (like a civil union, civil partnership, domestic partnership, "cohabitation union", etc.). That gives the impression that marriage equality has been achieved when in reality it hasn't. This only serves to encourage gay people to accept a second class status with the mistaken empression that it is equality. I support and promote ANY step in the right direction, like the HUGE step that Uruguay has made with their "cohabitation union", but I believe we should only see it as a step in the right direction and not the full accomplishment of the end goal. By claiming that this couple was married in a wedding it says that the end goal of marriage equality has been fully accomplished.
Posted by: Zeke | Apr 18, 2008 11:49:17 AM
wasn't there gay civil unions performed in mexico city and another state in mexico......how is this the first in latin america
Posted by: rene | Apr 18, 2008 2:29:33 PM
RENE, you're absolutely right. By the definition of "wedding" used here that statement is entirely incorrect.
Buenos Aires in Argentina has had civil unions for years now. A state in Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul) has also had civil unions/gay marriagish for years. Mexico City and the state of Coahuila in Mexico have civil unions for gay couples.
The article and headline should have said that Uruguay is the first COUNTRY in latin America to nationally recognize LEGAL RELATIONSHIP STATUS for gays and lesbians. Then it could have gone on to report on the "cohabitation union" that these two men entered into, without using all the misleading "marriage" and "wedding" terminology. What this couple actually got, from a legal and cultural standpoint, was legal recognition of their roommate status. This is why I object to calling other-than-marriages "marriages" and "weddings". Besides giving the misperception of marriage equality that I discussed above it also causes confusion and mistatements like the one you rightly pointed out.
Posted by: Zeke | Apr 18, 2008 4:13:33 PM
I disagree somewhat with some of the comments here. I attended a same-sex wedding in Canada several years before equal legal status was attained. The two considered themselves married and refered to each other as "my husband" or "my spouse." As far as they and their friends and family were concerned, they were married, whether the government gave their marriage equal rights to other marriages or not.
I've also noticed that the British press often refers top Elton John and David Furnish as having married and being each other's spouse. Likewise, Reichen and Chip from the Amazing Race insisted that they be refered to as "married" before even Massachusetts had granted equal rights.
I think it is very helpful toward equal rights that we use language that emphasizes that we are human beings and that we some of us are married.
Once straight people get used to refering to "my gay brother and his husband" or "my co-worker and her spouse" it is easier to make the obvious logical connection that they should be treated as others in society in the same situation are treated.
As long as people are saying "my brother and his special friend" or "my co-worker and her roommate," it is easy to foolishly assume that there is something qualitatively different about gay relationships that justifies being treated as inferiors under the law.
The only issue I would take with the article is that, really, there are already thousands of same-sex couples who are married in every country in Latin America. The degree to which all these spouses are treated fairly (or not) by their respective governments' legal systems is another question altogether.
Posted by: GregV | Apr 20, 2008 10:31:19 PM
I disagree somewhat with some of the comments here. I attended a same-sex wedding in Canada several years before equal legal status was attained. The two considered themselves married and refered to each other as "my husband" or "my spouse." As far as they and their friends and family were concerned, they were married, whether the government gave their marriage equal rights to other marriages or not.
I've also noticed that the British press often refers top Elton John and David Furnish as having married and being each other's spouse. Likewise, Reichen and Chip from the Amazing Race insisted that they be refered to as "married" before even Massachusetts had granted equal rights.
I think it is very helpful toward equal rights that we use language that emphasizes that we are human beings and that we some of us are married.
Once straight people get used to refering to "my gay brother and his husband" or "my co-worker and her spouse" it is easier to make the obvious logical connection that they should be treated as others in society in the same situation are treated.
As long as people are saying "my brother and his special friend" or "my co-worker and her roommate," it is easy to foolishly assume that there is something qualitatively different about gay relationships that justifies being treated as inferiors under the law.
The only issue I would take with the article is that, really, there are already thousands of same-sex couples who are married in every country in Latin America. The degree to which all these spouses are treated fairly (or not) by their respective governments' legal systems is another question altogether.
Posted by: GregV | Apr 20, 2008 10:33:55 PM