Updated on
Summary
Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalise gay marriage after the Senate voted in favour. The country's Chamber of Deputies had already approved the legislation. The vote in the Senate, which backed the bill by just six votes, came after 14 hours of at times heated debate. The law, which also allows same-sex couples to adopt, had met with fierce opposition from the Catholic Church and other religious groups.The legislation, backed by President Cristina Fernandez's centre-left government, passed by 33 votes to 27 with three abstentions. Outside Congress, as the debate continued into the early hours of Thursday, supporters and opponents of the bill held rival demonstrations.
