City of Buenos Aires , Argentina Gay couples celebrates victory in Argentina . They are now given same rights enjoyed by their heterosexual counterparts including adopting children after the country legalised same-sex marriage last Thursday, 15 July 2010. The unprecedented legislation passed despite intense opposition by the Roman Catholic Church . Argentina is known to be predominantly Catholic nation. The vote is 33 to 27 with three abstentions. With this, Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legally recognise gay marriage. While same-sex civil unions are recognised in Buenos Aires, parts of Mexico and Brazil and in Uruguay , no other Latin American country prior to Argentina had allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry. Argentina now joins nine other countries in the world where same-sex marriage is legal, including Belgium , Canada , Iceland , Netherlands , Norway , Portugal , South Africa , Spain , and Sweden . In the United States, gay marriag