Uruguay and Paraguay could be next to debate gay marriage

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Argentina voted to legalise gay marriage last week and it now looks like two of its neighbours could be on course to consider the same step.

Gay rights groups in Uruguay and Paraguay are pushing for parliaments to consider bills to give gay couples equal marriage rights.

Argentina is the first country in Latin America to take the step, with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner expected to ratify the law tomorrow.

Reports say Uruguay is the most likely of the two countries to grant equal marriage rights. It already allows civil unions, adoption rights for gay couples, the right for gay people to serve openly in the military and grants trans people the option of legally changing their gender.

Diego Sempol of Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep) told Argentina’s Telam that his group was in promising discussions with leading politicians.

Paraguay is less likely to make the change, with church leaders speaking out before a bill has even been introduced.

A gay rights group in the country, Somosgay, announced this week it would lobby for a bill.

Roman Catholic Bishop Adalberto Martinez of San Pedo promised an “intense educational campaign” on Christian values, while the country’s vice-president Federico Franco said man and woman were created to raise a family.

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