Great News from Central and South America

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Mexico City is one step closer to making same-sex marriage available to gay couples. On Tuesday the city's mayor, Marcelo Ebrard (left), signed the bill into law.  The bill passed the legislature by a fairly large margin.  Mayor Ebrard rejected calls for a veto by the National Action Party and the Roman Catholic Church, both claiming that the law is "an affront to the traditional family."  Cardinal Norberto Rivera was quoted as saying, "We have seen with impotence, pain and consternation ... [this] blow to the most intimate structure of Mexican families, the institution over which our nation has built its rich history, values and spirituality."

Two gay rights activists from Argentina, Jose Maria DiBello and Alex Freyre (right), were married in the Tierra del Fuego province of the country on Monday.  Legal battles had postponed the wedding of the two men when a a judge in Buenos Aires prohibited the couple from marrying.  But the Argentine Constitution says nothing about the matter, so Fabiana Rios, the governor of the southern province, supported the union of the two in her jurisdiction.  The BBC reports that Bishop Juan Carlos, of the southern Argentine city of Rio Gallegos, called the marriage "an attack against the survival of the human species."

That sounds a bit over the top.  Unless you believe that this gay marriage thing will catch on and heterosexual marriage will become obsolete.