First Gay Marriage For Latin America

After being temporarily thwarted by a judge's stay of a Buenos Aires court ruling in their favor, two men in Argentina have become the first gays to marry legally in Latin America.

An official in Argentina's southern Tierra del Fuego province says two Argentine men have wed there in Latin America's first gay marriage. Provincial spokesman Eduardo Porter says the wedding between Jose Maria Di Bello and Alex Freyre took place at the civil registry in Ushuaia. Their marriage plans in Buenos Aires earlier this month were thwarted when city officials refused to marry them because of conflicting rulings. An official representing the federal government's antidiscrimination agency attended the wedding. Claudio Morgado called Monday's marriage "historic." Argentina's Constitution is silent on whether marriage must be between a man and a woman, effectively leaving the matter to state and city officials.

The court ruling allowing their marriage was specifically for this couple only. It remains to be seen if a precedent has been set.

RELATED: Last week Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage, but that law has not yet gone into effect. Civil unions are available to gay couples in several Brazilian and Mexican states, and in the entire nation of Uruguay.