In a historical vote, the upper house of the Congress of Argentina passed a bill to grant same-sex couples all the legal rights, responsibilities and protections that marriage brings opposite-sex couples after more than 14 hours of debate yesterday, July 15, 2010.

Argentina is now the first Latin American country where same-sex marriage is legal.

The lower house approved the bill in May, and President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner is a strong supporter of same-sex marriage on human right grounds. It’s anticipated that the bill will be signed into law upon the president’s return from a state visit shortly.

Currently, same-sex marriage is legally recognized countrywide in the Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Spain, South Africa, Norway, Sweden, Portugal, Iceland, and of course, Argentina.

I wonder if Argentina will divert some of the same-sex couple tourists who have been coming to Canada to get married?