Monday, July 19, 2010

Good News From Down South

South of the Equator, I mean. It would appear that my friend Ocean's recent arrival on that continent is already paying dividends.

The Argentine Senate voted 33-27 last Thursday to allow same-sex marriage, making Argentina the first Latin American country to provide full marriage equality. The House of Deputies had already passed the bill (by a vote of 125-109), and President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner will sign it on Wednesday.

As Nate’s graph shows, the number of countries allowing gay marriage is slowly but steadily ticking upward. No longer is it unique to the stereotypically liberal Benelux and Scandinavian countries. Spain, Portugal and Argentina--Catholic countries with histories of right-wing, military dictatorships--now permit gay couples to wed. Polls show 70% of Argentines favoring the new law.

There's More...

And here is the chart referred to above:

538 Chart showing growth in number of people living in jurisdictions recognizing same-sex marriage

A quarter of a billion Judy Garland fans can't be wrong, can they?

;)

[Added] Instaputz has a nice touch of schadenfreude to help you enjoy this story just a bit more. Everyone point and laugh at Maggie Gallagher!

4 comments:

Ocean said...

I wish I could take credit for it, but honesty wins: correlation, not causation... :)

bjkeefe said...

Heh. Of course. (I meant to add a big COINCIDENCE??? after that sentence in the original post, but I forgot.)

Ocean said...

I see, I see, you don't believe in the power of the Ocean...

Well, good!

bjkeefe said...

Oh, no. I do believe. I just don't quite think it acts that rapidly.

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