Congratulations, Argentina! And to think we used to cry for you!

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Thursday morning Argentina became the first country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage. The nation that produces some of the most beautiful men in the world also produces a president and lawmakers that think fairly and act boldly. I hope our own lawmakers and the Supreme Court are taking notes. Doesn't it just make you want to rip off your shoes and sox and run barefoot on the pampas?

[Head2Foot]

I don't hold out much hope for US politicians. They're an uptight bunch (except in private when they put on their kinky caps).

Speaking of Argentina and kinky, I just saw a movie from Netflix titled "Apartment Zero." It stars a young Colin Firth and a charming-sleazy Hart Bochner in a relationship with dangerous homoerotic undercurrents.

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Head2Foot, I certainly agree that the political realities can be depressing. Very depressing! But I do see light at the end of the tunnel. When I think of the heartbeat cultural centers of the Spanish-speaking world, I think of Spain, Argentina and Mexico. The hope I feel comes from them.

Look at Spain, the country that produced the Spanish Inquisition, a nation that passed through a horrible civil war and then the long dictatorship of Franco. And today it is one of the 12 countries that has legalized same-sex marriage.

Argentina is still suffering from the nightmare of the Dirty War and dictatorship. But the Senate stayed in session until four in the morning and passed the legislation permitting same-sex-marriage, and this in spite of a nasty campaign by the right-wing extremists and the Catholic Church. The sermons that were preached in all churches of Argentina last Sunday are frightening in their distortion of truth and in their lack of respect for basic human rights. But the legislation passed.

Mexico City, Distrito Federal, is not all of Mexico, but it does have a population of over 20 million. In Mexico City same-sex marriages are now legal. Opposition from conservatives has been strong. But justice for basic human rights has triumphed.

To tell you the truth, it isn't the concept of marriage as a religious rite that is important to me at all. What makes it important to me is the idea that the legal systems of society recognize gay peope as human beings with the legal rights of all human beings. They thus must have the riight to join - or not to join - in a union recognized by the government. Spain and Argentina both have populations of over 40 million each. Mexico City has 20 million people. That's over 100 million people in the Spanish-speaking world who are leading the parade for gay people's civil rights.

We used to lead parades here in the US. Maybe we'll get inspired again.

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If you click on advocate.com you will be able to see a brief clip from the Argentine telenovela "'Botineras"' in which a gay soccer star outs himself (to avoid the scandal of being outed by someone else) and reporters ask him his views on same-sex marriage. He replies eloquently, as does a straight teammate. In Spanish with subtitles. The actor is Cristian Sancho and those Argentine actors are SO goodlooking! I think yoiu'll enjoy this.