Marriage in Buenos Aires & Portugal

Argentina As I told you last month, a gay couple who won the right to marry in Buenos Aires had their marriage blocked at the last minute.

Good news! The governor of Tierra Del Fuego allowed them to marry.

Alejandro Freyre, 39, and Jose Maria Di Bello, 41, tied the knot in a civil ceremony in the southern city of Ushuaia, in Tierra del Fuego province.....provincial governor Fabiana Rios..... gave the two men a special dispensation.

She said in a statement that gay marriage was "an important advance in human rights and social inclusion".

However Bishop Juan Carlos, of the southern Argentine city of Rio Gallegos, called the marriage "an attack against the survival of the human species".

The Catholic church is increasingly out of touch on this, don't you think? And it doesn't escape most people that the ranks of the hierarchy are replete with closeted gay men. (PHotos of the event here.)

Portugal: From the AFP:

Catholic Portugal, traditionally one of Europe's most socially conservative countries, is expected to approve the legalisation of gay marriage on Friday with a minimum of fuss. [Update: it did pass.]

With the governing Socialists and other left-wing parties enjoying a strong majority, the new law is likely to sail through the first reading debate and gain final approval before a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, due in Portugal in May.
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If the gay marriage proposals do pass through parliament, they will the have to go through a parliamentary commission before coming back for the final approval.

According to media reports, both the government and the Catholic Church wants the gay marriage issue to be resolved before the visit of the pope, scheduled for May 11-14.