Now You Can Marry That B.A. XXXL!!!

[trilingual]

Well, almost! Today's Buenos Aires papers report that last night the municipal legislature passed an act providing for civil unions. This has been in the works for almost a year and a half. Now that it has passed, the city's executive department has 120 days to issue regulations and implement the new law.

 

Unfortunately, "quickie" unions don't seem to possible under the Buenos Aires legislation. The parties must have been living together publicly for at least two years in order to qualify (unless they have had children together earlier than that). The law permits civil unions for anyone, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, with the only limits being the typical prohibitions on formalizing relationships between people related by blood, marriage or adoption.

 

This is a big step forward in a country with officially conservative mores, and a still-powerful and very conservative Catholic church (which, in Argentina, is still the established church, even though there is freedom of religion). To put things in perspective, Argentina only legalized divorce within the past twenty years! If civil unions are successful in the national capital, which is by far the largest and most important city in the country, the expectation is that similar provisions will eventually be incorporated into national law. The Buenos Aires action will also have a positive influence in other Latin American countries considering such legislation, like Brazil.

 

For those interested in such things, the city of Buenos Aires is an independent entity, separate from the surrounding province of Buenos Aires (comparable, in the U.S., to Baltimore and St. Louis, which are independent of their surrounding counties). The city of Buenos Aires was formerly a federal district like Washington, D.C., with limited self-government. That has changed in the past decade or so, and now the city of Buenos Aires (also referred to as Capital Federal to distinguish it from the province) has full self-government and is on a par with all the other provinces in Argentina. It's not subject to the Congressional meddling in its affairs that Washington, D.C. suffers.

[IamI2002]

I thought you said you were going away to retire in Patagonia, the one place you can afford.

[+ Axiom2001]

Iam..., my wonderful late aunt always instilled in us that if one doesn't have anything POSITIVE to say, then DON'T say it! Personally, I'd appreciate your adopting this philosophy!

 

If you are jealous or angry with Trilingual, or have a bone to pick with him, it would be appreciated if you would vent it in another way, not on this board.

 

And as another truculent individual who writes venom on this board or in this forum in particular-- I am NOT attempting to close down one's "freedom of speech or expression!"

[CT Dick]

Good for you, Axiom!!! :7 :7 :7 :7 :7

 

Dick