"I do" at the end of the world
Two activists travel all the way to Tierra del Fuego to marry. Their wedding becomes the first of its kind in Latin America.
On 28 December 2009, two men say "I do" in Ushuaia. Alex Freyre and José María Di Bello thus become the first same-sex couple in Latin America to marry in a civil ceremony. For this moment, they had to travel to the southern tip of the continent.
The two activists had actually wanted to marry in Buenos Aires on the first of December. The date was chosen deliberately: it is World AIDS Day, and both live with HIV. They had met at a conference on the subject. But shortly before the ceremony, a judge stopped the wedding, even though another court had allowed it. The capital's authorities no longer knew which ruling to follow. The couple waited outside the registry office in their suits and went home unmarried.
Help came from Tierra del Fuego. The Argentine constitution does not stipulate that a marriage must consist of a man and a woman. Governor Fabiana Ríos used this leeway and made the wedding possible by decree, after the local registry office had initially refused. She spoke of an important advance for human rights and social inclusion.
The celebration was simple. Instead of ties, the two men wore large red ribbons in solidarity with everyone living with HIV. The head of the national anti-discrimination agency was present as a witness and called the day historic. The Catholic Church reacted with outrage. A bishop from the south of the country even spoke of an attack on the survival of humanity.
A bill to open marriage had already been stuck in Congress for weeks at the time. The wedding in Ushuaia kept the issue in the headlines. In July 2010, Argentina finally became the first country in Latin America to introduce marriage equality nationwide. What had begun at the end of the world now applied to the whole country.