Good news. Almost two years after Argentina became the first Latin American nation to legalize marriage equality, its capital Buenos Aires may extend that right to visiting gay and lesbian couples. A bill has been introduced to allow couples to marry in B.A. without proof of residency, reports San Diego Gay & Lesbian News.
Ahead of earlier promises from Argentina's federal government to amend the Same-Sex Marriage Act to include LGBT visitors, Buenos Aires City lawmaker María Rachid introduced a draft bill in the City Legislature on Tuesday, April 3, looking to allow foreign gay couples to marry in Buenos Aires without the need of a local address.
Rachid’s initiative argues that Article 20 in the Argentine Constitution establishes that "while on Argentine territory, all foreigners are protected by the citizens’ civil rights … they can make up their will and get married in accordance to the law."
The proposed bill suggests that non-resident gay and lesbian couples will only be asked to present the authorities with a photocopy of their passport with an entry stamp, temporary address and duration of their visit to Argentina. No time estimate is available as to when the new bill may be passed into law.
Buenos Aires is already a popular destination for LGBT tourists. The proposal comes after the first foreign gay couple married last month in the city of Rosario—located about 200 miles northwest of Buenos Aires—which has no marital residency requirement.
On July 15 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. Marriage equality is also the law in Mexico City. Uruguay permits same-sex civil unions. Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously approved civil unions for same-sex couples in May 2011.
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