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Please, Cry for Me, Argentina

by Alejandro Bermudez 

Everything was set for the inconceivable in Catholic Argentina: Alex Freyre and Jose María Di Bello, two young poster boys for the gay rights movement in Argentina, were set to legally marry at a federal building in the traditional Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo on December 1.

But the fanfare of flowers, confetti, candles, white suits and more than 30 TV cameras from around the world had to be put aside with an 11th hour decision from Judge Martha Gómez Alsina. The wedding was stopped until the Argentina’s Supreme Court could consider the matter.

Buenos Aires already recognizes civil unions, providing same-sex couples with benefits uncommon in any other Latin American country. Less than a month before the planned wedding ceremony, though, Freyre and Di Bello, as part of a long term strategy developed by the Argentinian gay rights movement, filed suit against the city of Buenos Aires, claiming they had the right to get married.

They knew it was a long shot. But in a surprise move, they ended up winding their way through the intricate legal system until they found a judge, Gabriela Seijas, willing to declare that the two laws in the Argentinean Civil Code preventing same sex couples from marrying were unconstitutional and that the two men could marry.

As the day came close, despite the numerous objections from pro-family organizations and the Catholic Church, no one in the judiciary, the legislative or the executive branches reacted.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, met with the head of the city government, Mauricio Macri, who was legally responsible for challenging Judge Seijas' decision.

But Macri decided to look the other way, forcing the cardinal to state that he had “gravely failed in his public duties as a man of authority.”

A small group of pro-family lawyers moved quickly to file legal papers and get a temporary legal stay that froze what the local press was already calling the “gaymonio” (gay wedding) in Palermo.

The well known Argentinean love for drama – just check the lyrics of Carlos Gardel's tangos – was fed big time by the images that followed the decision.

Indeed, the images of Alex and Jose María crying and claiming that the “cruel” legal decision was “heartbreaking” sent a clear message: Please, cry for me, Argentina.

A quick disclaimer here: My late father was Argentinean, and I was raised in Argentina until I turned six. A significant number of my friends think I am actually Argentinean, not Peruvian.

But the Argentinean love for tragedy and victims is well known. The gay rights advocates know this and are playing the card more shrewdly than their pro-family counterparts.

Indeed, Freyre recently declared that “we feel that the people’s sensibility is on our side.”

In actuality, by mid-December there were no polls to show how most Argentineans feel about the possible “gaymonio,” but is very clear what the gay rights movement wants them to feel.

My Argentinean friends who believe in the traditional definition of marriage tell me that the Supreme Court will have the last word – and gay marriage activists could conceivably win. The composition of the current Supreme Court, filled with two socially liberal judges during the previous Kirchner administration, makes the final decision unpredictable.

And interestingly, despite the Argentinean Civil Code clearly stating that marriage can only take place between a man and a woman, there is nothing in the country's Constitution that says it is only between one man and one woman.

At any rate, the “gaymonio” is out of the program for now, but the same-sex marriage movement isn’t done working Argentina’s emotions, with more legislation in the works seeking to normalize same-sex relationships in the country’s consciousness.

If it does succeed in establishing same-sex marriage and upturning the fundamental tradition that has sustained their culture for generations, no doubt Catholic Argentina will have plenty to cry for.

 

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(The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Headline Bistro or the Knights of Columbus.)