ARGENTINA: Cyndi Lauper Calms Airport

Due to flight delays and cancellations, things were getting quite tense at the Buenos Aires airport. Enter Cyndi Lauper, who commandeered a microphone and performed Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.

(Source)

ARGENTINA: Bear Club Attacked

Last week the Buenos Aires Bears Club filed a complaint with the federal government after their meeting space was set ablaze with members inside. Andres Duque reports at Blabbeando:

Club coordinator Gabriel Sánchez tells Tiempo Argentino that on the night of January 15th, as club members and their friends began to arrive to a monthly grill-and-meet event, twenty or so individuals living in a nearby hotel started harassing them and asking them for money. When members refused to give money, Sánchez says that some of the assailants began to shout "You getting together to fuck, fat faggots!" As the tone got aggressive, club members went inside the clubhouse and shut the door. Outside, assailants pulled a discarded mattress and some trash bags against the door and set them on fire. Club members were able to open the door and put out the fire with a fire extinguisher. By then, Sánchez says, the police had arrived and kept guard preventing further violence.

Club members also report being attacked with rocks and bottles and having their cars vandalized, but they say that police have refused to make arrests. A federal official has promised to investigate both the attacks and the police response.

ARGENTINA: Big Brother Producers Reveal Transman Identity Of Contestant

Andres Duque has the backstory at Blabbeando.

Gay Weddings Begin In Argentina

Subtitles by Andres Duque at Blabbeando.

Tweet Of The Day - James Hartline

Oh noes! Hundreds of penguins have dropped dead in shock over Argentina legalizing gay marriage! (You didn't think he'd stop with the anti-gay killer bees, did you?)

VIDEO: Argentina's President Signs Marriage Equality Bill Into Law

Behind Argentina's Marriage Vote

Video site Newsy looks into the possible motivations for Argentina's president's support of marriage equality.

Mexico City Offers Free Honeymoon To First Gay-Married Argentine Couple

Mexico City's tourism agency is offering a free honeymoon to the first gay couple to wed under Argentina's just-passed marriage equality law.

The offer was "in recognition of tolerance, but also to promote gay friendly tourism in Mexico City," said Alejandro Rojas, according to a statement. Argentina on Thursday became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following a landmark Senate vote which stirred controversy in the majority Roman Catholic nation. Authorities in the Mexican capital, which legalized gay marriage last year, offered air tickets for the first couple to benefit from the Argentine law, and was seeking sponsorship from hotels and restaurants in Mexico City and the beach resort of Cancun, Rojas said. Around 15 percent of world tourism -- 150 million tourists per year -- is gay friendly, while gay tourists are discerning, respectful and spend 47 percent more than heterosexual tourists, Rojas added.

Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in December.

VIDEO: Argentina Vote Reactions

Even though I only speak "disco Spanish," as I watched the live video stream of the endless debate all through the night, I was amused at my ability to pick out the familiar figures - the earnest progressives and the hectoring Christianists - so often seen in our own battles. If the bottom clip doesn't make you tear up a little, you are worse than Hitler.

HomoQuotable - Glenn Greenwald

"Argentinian politicians acted in the face of 'polls showing that nearly 70 percent of Argentines support giving gay people the same marital rights as heterosexuals.' That's what is most striking here: this is not happening in some small Northern European country renown for its ahead-of-the-curve social progressivism (though gay marriage or civil unions are now the norm in Western Europe).

"Just as is true for Brazil, which I've written about before with regard to my personal situation, Argentina is a country with a fairly recent history of dictatorships, an overwhelmingly Catholic population (at least in name), and pervasive social conservatism, with extreme restrictions on abortion rights similar to those found on much of the continent. The Catholic Church in Argentina vehemently opposed the enactment of this law. But no matter. Ending discrimination against same-sex couples is understood as a matter of basic equality, not social progressivism, and it thus commands widespread support. The contrast with the U.S. is quite instructive and depressing." - Glenn Greenwald, writing for Salon.

BREAKING: Argentina's Senate APPROVES Marriage Equality 33-27!!!!

Argentina's Senate has voted 33-27 to APPROVE marriage equality! The bill now goes to the president who has vowed to sign it at once. The debate, which Rex Wockner notes went on for 14 hours, lasted past 4am Buenos Aires time. Shortly after the vote, a massive and delirious crowd outside the chamber broke into dancing and singing. I'll update this post shortly with official news reports. Among those staying up all night to follow the debate was Ricky Martin, whose tweets on #matrimonio pushed the issue onto Twitter's top trending topics.First out with a U.S. reaction was Freedom To Marry, whose executive director Evan Wolfson writes:

"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 twelve countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality. Argentina's vote for the freedom to marry marks an important advance for fairness and family values as more couples around the world will now share in marriage, with families helped and no one hurt. Today's vote adds momentum to the international movement to secure the freedom to marry for all loving and committed couples. Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States. America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."

OOPS, yesterday Slaggie Gilamonster foresaw the future! A future which is spreading across the globe in a lovely dark blue. See the already updated Wiki-map below.

ARGENTINA: Supreme Court Poised To Rule In Favor Of Same-Sex Marriage

According to the below CBC report, even if Argentina's Senate votes against same-sex marriage today, the nation's Supreme Court has already written a ruling to legalize it and is just waiting for the result of the vote. The vote may not come until very late tonight/early tomorrow NYC time. But if the CBC's report is accurate, the win is already in the bag!

(Tipped by JMG reader Linda)

LIVE VIDEO: Argentina Marriage Vote

UPDATE: Things are getting VERY heated, huh? My pal Andres Duque is translating on the fly over at Twitter.

UPDATE II: Andres has also subtitled yesterday's fantastic statement by Argentina's President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

UPDATE III: Marriage WINS 33-27. The live stream is concluded.

U.S. Mormons Step Into Argentina's Battle For Same-Sex Marriage

Magic Underwear Inc has sent a letter to its members in Argentina, calling for opposition to same-sex marriage.

"The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is absolutely clear: Marriage is between one man and woman and is ordained of God," said the July 6 letter from church President Thomas S. Monson. A copy of the letter and its English translation began circulating over the weekend on websites for former Mormons. The Argentina letter was directed to congregations in the Buenos Aires area and states that it is a response to concerns stemming from the proposed legislation that would change the definition of marriage. The letter encourages members to review the "Proclamation on the Family," a 1995 statement from church leaders that set out traditional marriage as a sacred institution ordained by God and the family as a fundamental pillar of society.

Argentina's House of Deputies approved a marriage equality bill in May. The Senate is scheduled to begin debating the bill this week and Argentina's president has promised to sign it should it reach her desk.

SWEET: Pro-Marriage Ad From Argentina

Subtitles by Andres Duque at Blabbeando. The Argentine Senate may vote on a marriage equality bill this week. Last month the bill was approved by the nation's lower legislative chamber.

ARGENTINA: Soap Opera Explores Gay Love Affair Between Soccer Stars

The popular Argentine soap opera Botineras is featuring a story line involving a clandestine love affair between two pro soccer stars, leading the public to speculate that it might be based on actual players. Rumor Rat has the story and a much steamier clip.

ARGENTINA: Marriage Or Civil Unions?

Argentina's Senate advisory panel has rejected the marriage equality bill approved by the nation's lower chamber last month, but a civil unions bill may be approved next week by the full Senate. The marriage bill is not dead, however.

The Senate’s General Legislation Committee on Tuesday signed two resolutions: nine out of the Committee’s 15 members signed to reject a same-sex marriage bill supported by President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner and her husband, Deputy Néstor Kirchner. The nine senators instead backed a civil union bill that does not include adoption rights. Six committee senators on Tuesday backed the same-sex bill passed by the Lower House. The Senate is due to debate the bills on Wednesday. If the same-sex marriage bill is rejected by the Senate, then the civil union bill would be debated and, if passed, it would then move for the first time to the Lower House. If the same-sex marriage bill garners a majority of votes in the Senate and no changes are introduced it would become law. If changes are introduced it would go back to the Lower House for it to consider them.

Yesterday NOM posted the following email from one their Argentine fans.

"I am working very hard in this campaign, yesterday we made a good first step in the Senate, we are raising money for good television spots and people all over the country are finally reacting. We are expecting more than 100,000 people for the march on 13th July, which is a good number for a social mobilization in our country."

ARGENTINA: Marriage Equality Ad

Argentina's Senate will debate a marriage equality bill next week, following its approval by the country's lower legislative chamber several weeks ago. The below clip was subtitled by Andres Duque at Blabbeando.

Argentina's House Says AFFIRMATIVO To Same-Sex Marriage

Argentina's House Of Deputies (similar to the U.S. House) has just voted 125-109 to approve same-sex marriage. The debate now moves to the Senate, where opposition is expected to be strong. I watched the last few minutes of the House vote via a livestream and even though I speak little Spanish, it was quite amusing to me to identify the Argentine counterparts of the familiar players we see here. (The blowhard ranting homophobe, the slightly too-smug liberals, etc.) But when the result was gaveled into officialness and rainbow banners unfurled from the gallery to ecstatic cheers and singing, well, hello, hand me una Kleenex, por favor.