Tag Archives: Argentina

Trans Ministry in Argentina (Reblog)

From Revista OHLALÁ!, English translation by Rebel Girl at Iglesia Descalza:

Sister Mónica: Ministering to Trans Women in Argentina

By Marina Herrmann, Revista OHLALÁ!
September 2015

Sister Mónica Astorga Cremona, a nun who belongs to the Order of Discalced Carmelites, answers the phone and briefly summarizes the mobilization she generated when her work became known: “I told the Pope that, although he urged young people to make trouble, I’m the one who’s doing it.”

Mónica has come out out in recent weeks in various media in the province of Neuquen, where she lives in a cloistered convent, because of the work she’s doing with a group of trans women. But in addition to this work, for many years she has been helping inmates in prisons across the country.

Mónica’s voice is cool, calm, and strong, and if a person didn’t know her age, they’d bet she wasn’t more than thirty or so. However, behind those vocal chords are 30 years of work in the community and 50 years of age. Hence the need to clarify that although the Pope spoke to the young, she’s the one who’s “making trouble.”

Continue reading Trans Ministry in Argentina (Reblog)

Gay Weddings Begin in Argentina

The first gay weddings under Argentina’s new family equality law have begun. (These are not the first gay marriages- a handful of couples were able to sneak in by earlier court challenges and sympathetic magistrates, but these at the first to be arranged routinely under national marriage laws.  As you see, this was neither a traditional white wedding, nor a quiet affair in the registry office – there were too many reporters and photographers for that description. The couple are an actor and his agent – they will be used to the press, and wont’ object to the publicity.

CNN reports:

Buenos Aires, Argentina (CNN) — Two men who have been together for 34 years have become the first couple to obtain a same-sex marriage since it became legal in Argentina on July 15.

Artistic representative Alejandro Vanelli and actor Ernesto Larrese were married in a civil ceremony Friday morning in Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital.

They wore dark suits and striped blue ties and were surrounded by well-wishers and a throng of reporters, photographers and videographers.

Larrese spoke to his partner — but also to the nation at large.

“To all those who are afraid … those who are homophobic … I tell them, don’t worry; this doesn’t affect you,” Larrese said. “You have nothing to fear. Fear is the opposite of love. Any phobia can be cured with love. There is nothing love cannot cure.

However, the BBC says a different couple got in first, just an hour earlier, in a northern town.  Who cares? There will be many, many more.

An architect and a retired office administrator have become the first gay couple to marry in Argentina under a new law legalising same-sex marriages.

Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, and Jose Luis Navarro, 54, have lived together for 27 years.

Argentina is the first Latin American country to legalise same-sex marriage.

The law was passed after a long and often bitter campaign and it still faces opposition, most notably from the Roman Catholic Church.

After the early-morning ceremony in the northern town of Frias, Mr Calefato and Mr Navarro promised to hold a big party to thank all who had supported the passage of the law.

The couple have been together for 27 years