WATCH: Argentine President Signs Marriage Bill Into Law

Hat/Tip to Joe.My.God.

Another Insider Report On Argentina Marriage Vote

More reporting from MadProfessah's Buenos Aires correspondent. They wrote this email to me today:

The debate was impressive (and broadcast live on 4 different TV channels). My favorite speaker was Daniel Filmus, a senator representing the Federal Capital (Buenos Aires is like D.C., except it has full representation in the house and
senate). Filmus is a sociologist and was a university administrator before making the leap to national politics.

Among his comments Filmus said (I paraphrase): "Some opponents observe
that only 7 other countries have approved gay marriage, so why should
Argentina? I ask how many other countries have to approve it before
Argentina does? It is to our shame that Argentina did not approve
women's sufferage until 1950, and it is a point of pride that Argentina
was the 3rd country in the world and the 1st in Latin America to put on
trial the military leaders who participated in a repressive
dictatorship. We should aim to lead, not just to follow, in the
progress toward justice, freedom, and equality. Opponents to gay
marriage also claim that gay marriage is unnatural because gay sex is
not procreative and because throughout time in all societies, families
have consisted of a mother, a father, and their children. That is not
true. There have been many different kinship systems. The nuclear
family centered on a monogamous procreative couple that the opponents
claim is natural is in fact a relatively recent invention. Also, in
addition to adoption, there are new reproductive technologies that
straight as well as gay couples use to produce children. Rather than
prohibit gay couples from marrying, we should next turn our attention to
changing our adoption and family laws to encompass these new
technologies for straight, gay, and single parents. Finally, the
opponents claim that children have a right to be raised by a mother and
a father. I'll now read from a letter signed by 500 of my colleagues at
the (Argentine) National Science Foundation. The letter observes that
every study conducted anywhere in the world over the past 40 years have
found that children raised by gay parents are not different from
children raised by heterosexual parents, except that children of gay
parents tend to be a little more tolerant and less violent." He said a
lot more, but those are some of my favorite of his comments.

Another high point of the debate came at the very end in an exchange
between Liliana Negre de Alonso, the leader of the pro-Church
opposition, and Miguel Angel Pichetto, the leader of the pro-Pres.
Kirchner voting block. Negre de Alonso pleaded for her civil union bill
to be passed instead because that would avoid tearing the country apart
by providing a middle ground. Pichetto accused Negre de Alonso of being
deceitful. He observed that she never showed any interest in civil
unions for gay people until it became clear that gay marriage would be
approved. Then she slapped together a thoroughly offensive bill that
would provide a second-class alternative to marriage for gays, lesbians,
and transsexuals. Worst, the civil union bill included a clause that
would give a judge the option not to perform a civil union because of
the judge's conscientious objections to gay unions. Pichetto said that
clause, licensing judges to discriminate against a minority group,
"belongs more to Nazi Germany than to a democratic state." Negre de
Alonso responded, offended, that "here we are talking about freedom and
equality, and [Pichetto] is discriminating against me" because he only
accepts people who think the way he thinks. Pichetto observed that
disagreeing with her was not discriminating against her, and that the
opponents are the ones who do not accept people who think differently
from themselves. He observed that those in favor of gay marriage do not
discriminate against heterosexual couples, but those who are opposed to
gay marriage to discriminate against gay couples.

At the end, it was clear that the vote would be 32-32, which would leave
it to the acting president of the senate to break the tie, in favor of
gay marriage. At that point, some senators changed their votes, leading
to a final vote of 33-27 with 3 abstentions and 1 non-vote, so the
acting president did not have to weigh in. Speaking of the acting
president, I was wrong about why Vice President Cobos could not fulfill
his usual role of president of the senate (and tie-breaking vote). It
is not because Cobos is in China with President Fernández de Kirchner.
It is because Cobos is acting president of the nation while President
Fernández de Kirchner is abroad. Thus, by scheduling the vote while the
President was abroad, the President was able to ensure that her V.P.
could not be prez of the senate and vote against her, the way he did a
couple of years ago on an important farm bill.

An amazing, exciting historic time to be living in Argentina!

Argentina Enacts Marriage Equality!

After 15 hours of debate, the Argentine Senate passed the marriage equality bill 33-27 at 4:05am local time.

From the AP:

Same-sex civil unions have been legalized in Uruguay and some states in Mexico and Brazil. Colombia's Constitutional Court granted same-sex couples inheritance rights and allowed them to add their partners to health insurance plans. Mexico City went further, legalizing gay marriage and launching tourism campaigns to encourage foreigners to come and wed.

[...]

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

"Argentina's political class has provided a lesson to the rest of Latin America," said Rolando Jimenez in 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 to the senate in October, said Martin Viveros of the group Somosgay. And in Uruguay, gays unsatisfied with the partial rights that come through civil unions are preparing legislation that would replace references to "man and woman" with "spouse" throughout the civil code.

[...]

The president, who helped the law's chances by bringing two senators opposed to gay marriage with her on a state visit to China, spoke out from there against the Catholic Church's campaign and the tone she said some religious groups have taken.

"It's very worrisome to hear words like 'God's war' or 'the devil's project,' things that recall the times of the Inquisition," she said.

That may play well in Argentina's socially liberal capital, where many of the country's gays and lesbians live, but could be costly in the conservative provinces. Some opposition leaders accused Fernandez and her husband Nestor Kirchner, who lobbied hard for passage, of trying to gain votes in next year's presidential elections, when the former president is expected to run again.

Congratulations to Argentina! I may just have to change my travel plans for my 20th anniversary next January. We were thinking of visiting South Africa, but maybe we should return to South America instead!

hat/tip to Rex Wockner

An Insider's Report From Argentina on Marriage Equality Debate

A friend of mine who lives in both Argentina and the United States but who is in Buenos Aires right now sent this extensive analysis of what is going on in the country as the Senate prepares to consider marriage equality legislation:

The final debate on the same-sex marriage bill will start at 12:30 today

(8:30 am LA time), with a vote coming in the early evening.

The Argentine Senate has 72 members but 4 will be absent: 2 are in

China with the president, 1 is sick, and 1 is on leave. It's

interesting that the 2 who are with the president are both opposed to

gay marriage, while the president and her husband are the leading

proponents of gay marriage. So the president may have invited the 2

anti senators to accompany her to keep them away from the vote, or the

pro senators decided to take advantage of the 2 anti senators' absence

by calling for the vote before the party returns from China. Also, the

tie-breaking vote belongs to the VP, who is also in China with the

president, and the VP is against whatever the president is for. That

acting president of the senate is pro gay marriage. In sum, by holding

the vote while the president's party is in China, pro forces managed to

reduce the number of votes needed for passage from 37 (to avoid a tie

that would be broken in the other direction) to 34 (to achieve a tie

that would be broken in favor of gay marriage).

The pro forces claim they have 35 votes lined up, but independent

journalists count 33 in favor and 33 opposed to gay marriage, with 2

undecided or undeclared. So the pro forces need just 1 of those 2, plus

the tie-breaking vote of the acting president of the senate.

Before the vote, there will be a proposal to change the language in the

bill from "marriage" to "egalitarian family union". It's their attempt

to have it both ways. They don't want to use the word "marriage" for

fear of offending the anti forces, but they call that the "family union"

they propose "egalitarian" in order to assure the pro forces that it is

not a second-class form of marriage, and to avoid having the president

of the senate rule the proposed "invalid". That's what he did yesterday

when he ruled that the senate would not vote on the civil union bill

because it was invalid on constitutional grounds.

Another parliamentary move by the anti forces will be to try to persuade

32 senators to walk out in order to deny the pro forces the quorum

needed to have a vote. Also, the anti forces have announced that if the

same-sex marriage is defeated, they will immediately reintroduce the

civil union bill. They argue that once gay marriage is off the table,

the acting president of the senate will allow a vote to go forward on

civil unions. In sum, the opposition forces calculate that some

senators will vote against same-sex marriage if they are they have the

option of voting for same-sex civil unions or "egalitarian family

unions". And the pro forces calculate that the same senators will vote

for same-sex marriage if they do not have a weasel-ish alternative.

You can watch the live feed of the Argentine Senate debate here and here.

WATCH: Ads Promoting Marriage Equality in Argentina

World Cup Final Today: Spain v. The Netherlands

Today is the final of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Spain will be playing the Netherlands. Holland is undefeated in this year's tournament, while Spain has been one of the top 2 ranked teams in the world for the last three years (the other, Brazil was vanquished by the Dutch team in the quarterfinals).

One week after I watched him win his 2nd Wimbledon title, Spaniard Rafael Nadal will be in the audience to watch his team, La Furia Roja battle for their first World Cup title. Only seven countries have won the World Cup since the quadrennial competition began in 1930 (Uruguay, Italy, Germany, Brazil, England, Argentina, and France) so today history will be made.

Yesterday, 2-time defending champion Spain was eliminated from the Davis Cup by France in the semifinals. Is this a harbinger of Spain's defeat in the World Cup? The world's most famous cephalopod, Paul the Octopus has chosen Spain as the winner over the Netherlands today. He has not been wrong in all of his predictions at this year's tournament. He also correctly picked Germany to defeat Uruguay in the third place (runner's up) match. Germany won with a thrilling come-from-behind 3-2 victory to seal an all-European sweep.

MadProfessah's prediction: Netherlands (2-1)

MOVIE REVIEW: The Secret In Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)

This year's (surprising) Oscar winner for Foreign Language Film was El Secreto de sus Ojos (The Secret in their Eyes) from Argentina.

MadProfessah and the Other Half saw this film on May 21st (my birthday), at one of my favorite art-house movie theaters, the Laemmle Playhouse 7 on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.

I like seeing foreign-language films, especially in Spanish, which I have been trying to learn, slowly, for years.

I also like mysteries, and although I knew very little about El Secreto de Sus Ojos walking in, I was aware there was some aspect of mystery and political intrigue involved.

I didn't even know it was very well-reviewed, with an average of 91% at rottentomatoes.com (97% among users) before I saw it myself and checked on the reviews after I saw the film myself.

The film is told from the perspective of Benjamin, a combination detective/prosecuting attorney in Buenos Aires who, in his retirement, is writing a book about a particular case of a murdered newlywed housewife that took place 25 years ago but was never solved.

Benjamin works closely with his boss, Irene, who he also happened to have a huge crush on but who everyone believed was "out of his league" due to her foreign education and family's upper class status.

Benjamin also works closely with his (clearly alcoholic) owlish colleague Pablo to try to solve the mystery of the murdered housewife, and their interactions are a source of some of the most poignant humor (and, later, horror) in the film. Another gripping character in the film is the husband of the murdered woman, in whose eyes Benjamin sees a love like no other, a passion which fuels his decades-long obsession with this case, despite a politically complicated resolution of the matter.

The Secret in their Eyes is a movie that you will remember long after you leave the movie theater, filled with tiny revelatory moments that sear the memory and haunt the viewer.

Running Time: 2 hours, 7 minutes.
MPAA Rating: Rated R for a rape scene, violent images, some graphic nudity and language.
Director: Juan José Campanella.

OVERALL GRADE: A+/A.

ACTING: A+.
IMAGERY: A.
PLOT: A+.
IMPACT: A.

Argentina Lower House Passes Marriage Equality Bill

By a vote of 125-109 the Argentine House of Deputies has passed a bill legalizing marriage equality in the South American nation. Latino LGBT Blogger Andrés Duque has the details:

The vote followed more than 11 hours of debate on the House floor and counted with the support of members of the Socialist Party as well as supporters of the Cristina Férnandez de Kirchner government [Deputies were freed by their parties to "vote their conscience" earlier in the day].

To become law, the Argentinean Senate would first have to debate and approve the bill. Getting a bill approved by the Senate is expected to be a much tougher challenge for marriage equality advocates although the House vote pushes the issue to the front and it is now expected that a Senate vote might come within weeks.

Five same-sex couples have been granted the right to marry in Argentina, including Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello, who married on December 28th and became have the first same-sex couple to ever marry in all of Latin America. But their marriage, which was later annulled, came through victories in the courts. Of those initial five marriages, only two are left standing with any validity.

The times they are a changin'!

Hat/tip to Joe.My.God.

Only Legally Married Same-Sex Couple in Latin America

Carlos Alvarez & Martin Canavaro

Thanks to my friend Andrés Duque of Blabbeando comes word about the legal marriage of Carlos Alvarez & Martin Canavaro in Argentina and even better news that the law may soon be changed to allow other couples to get maried there as well:

Today [Thursday April 15], two legislative commissions - the General Legislation Commission and the Women, Children and Adolescence Commission - backed a full congressional debate of a bill that would amend Argentina's Civil Code to allow same-sex couples to marry.

La Nación reports today the recommendation has already drawn support from members representing a plurality of the political parties sitting in Congress (which doesn't mean all party representatives sitting in congress will vote in favor once it does come down for a floor vote). It also noted that members of two conservative parties, including the Peronistas - Quick! Someone call Madonna - er - Evita! - were holding off and willing to endorse a "civil union-only" bill that did not define legal same-sex partnership recognition as "marriage".

Vilma Ibarra , the lead sponsor of the bill, said it would replace the words "man and a woman" in the Civil Code with "spouse". She also said that, considering the wide support that the bill received today, she expected a full debate in the next congressional session and passage of the bill.

Congratulations to Carlos and Martin!

Uruguay Now Most Pro-LGBT Country in South America

Uruguay is rapidly gaining a reputation as the most pro-gay country in South America despite neighboring Argentina and Brazil.

The small country enacted nationwide civil union legislation in 2007, ended it's ban on gays openly serving in the military earlier this year and last week opened up adoption to same-sex couples.

MadProfessah visited the country in 2006 (Montevideo) and quite enjoyed it!

US OPEN 2009: Del Potro Wins 1st Major Title

20-year-old Argentine Juan Martin del Potro outlasted 15-time major champion, 28-year-old Roger Federer 3-6, 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 in a 4 hour, 6 minute marathon to win his first major title and prevent the Swiss great from winning his 6th consecutive US Open title.

Del Potro became the first person to win a major by beating Federer and Nadal at a major tournament. In the semifinals, del Potro handed the Spaniard his worst loss in a major, allowing Nadal a mere 6 games in 3 sets. The Argentine also became the first person in Federer's 21 grand slam major finals to beat Federer other than Nadal (who has done it 5 times out of 7).

Federer was definitely not playing his best tennis, not serving particularly well, finishing with only 13 aces and 11 double faults over 5 sets, a far cry from the 50 aces Federer served in his thrilling 5-set Wimbledon win over Andy Roddick earlier in the summer.
Federer finished with 56 winners to 62 errors (-6) compared to del Potro's 57 winners to 60 errors (-3). Federer was attempting to extend a 40-match winning streak in New York, his last loss coming to another Argentine, David Nalbandian, in 2003. However, despite being ahead in both the second and fourth set, Federer managed to lose them both in tiebreaks and eventually lost the match and his title to the 6'6" 182 pound youngster from Tandil, Argentina.

Eye Candy: Santiago Peralta (reprise)

Earlier in the year Santiago Peralta caught my eye when he was featured at Queerty. He clearly has what it takes to be part of MadProfessah's Eye Candy. Thanks to Made in Brazil here are some more shots of this smoking hot Argentinian model.

Eye Candy: Santiago Peralta

¡Buenas Dias! Queerty continues their exploration of non-white models with Santiago Peralta. Check out their site which has over a dozen images of Señor Peralta.

President's Wife Elected President In Argentina

First Lady and Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner the 54-year-old wife of Nestor Kirchner, the current president of Argentina, became the first woman elected president of the country on Sunday by winning 45% of the vote, at least 20 percentage points of her nearest rival (who also was female) in a multi-candidate field.

Often called the "Hillary Clinton of South America," Fernández mentioned the Democratic frontrunner for the U.S. Presidential nomination in her first press conference while acknowledging the similarities between the two: Both are senators and lawyers who accompanied husbands from obscure state governorships as they rose to the presidency.

Fernández will be inaugurated December 10.

According to The Bilerico Project, one of the President-elect's strongest supporters in the Argentine legislature is also the sponsor of a bill to allow same-sex marriage in Argentina and argues that Fernandez' election augurs well for the LGBT community in Argentina. According to election results the First Lady did NOT do as well in the urban areas of the country, especially Buenos Aires where one would expect members of the LGBT community are over-represented.