You Go Argentina!

I love Argentina even though I haven't had a chance to visit yet. I love its culture and its impressive intellectual production. I also love the very peculiar Argentinean way of speaking Spanish. My own Spanish is the Argentinean version because it's the most expressive of all. Today, I have even more reasons to be happy for this great country:

Argentina has become the first Latin American country to let gay couples marry and adopt children, defying Catholic opposition to join the ranks of a few mostly European nations with similar laws. . . Argentine President Cristina Fernandez supports gay marriage on human rights grounds and is expected to sign the law after her return from a state visit to China. The proposal cleared Argentina's lower house in May. Fernandez told state news agency Telam the law was a "positive step that defends minority rights."

A nominally Roman Catholic country, Argentina is now at the vanguard of gay rights in the region. Church leaders had campaigned against the measure, rallying tens of thousands of opponents, from children to elderly nuns, in a demonstration outside Congress on Tuesday. But opinion polls show most Argentines support gay marriage.

This is great news for Argentina and for Latin America at large. It seems like the United States will soon remain the only developed nation that is openly homophobic. Shame on us.