03 December 2007

Article in the New York Times: Argentina as a Beacon for Gay Tourists

As I was surfing through today's New York Times online edition, I stumbled across an article describing Argentina as a location that is a 'beacon for gay tourists'. As i was going through this article, i found it really interesting how far the U.S. often seems to be that different from other parts of the world, specifically Argentina.
The article explained that in the 80s, someone could be arrested in Argentina for being openly gay. However, "In 1992 President Carlos Menem signed a decree promising equal legal protection for gay men and women.", and "Five years ago this was the first major Latin American city to legalize same-sex unions". This tends to be a hot topic in our political spectrum today (which is disappointing in and of itself), and to see that a country that isn't one of the "major players" in the world scene is going above and beyond us in this aspect gives me hope.
Although it is not picture perfect, as the article indicates as well, at least the government is making efforts to have all people accepted as 'equal'.
I encourage everyone to check out this article by Alexei Barrionuevo at http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/03/world/americas/03argentina.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin

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