Argentina seems set to become the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage: Buenos Aires Judge Gabriela Seijas granted Alex Freyre and Jose Maria Di Bello the right to marry. While Buenos Aires approved same sex civil unions in 2002–the region’s first city to do so–a civil union does not grant all rights of marriage. Argentina is a primarily Catholic country, and civil unions are legal in several other jurisdictions. Mexico City also permits same sex civil unions, while in 2007 Uruguay became the first Latin American country to grant them countrywide.

Judge Seijas said in her ruling:

The law should treat everyone with the same respect according to their singularities, without the need to understand or regulate them.

The decision–which may increase pressure on lawmakers to debate a gay marriage bill currently deadlocked in the country’s Congress–could be overturned by city authorities, reports Voice of America.