Did you hear it?

Did you hear the sonic boom from the shouts for joy coming from Buenos Aires and across Argentina early this morning when the country’s Senate voted 33 to 27 (with three abstentions) in favor of a law to legalize same-sex marriage? It woke me out of a sound sleep.

Argentina has become the first country in Latin America to legalize marriage for all. The law, which also allows same-sex couples to adopt, had met with fierce opposition from (wait for it…) the Catholic Church and other religious groups. We can always count on them to slow social progress. (We were just talking about this.)

The legislation is backed by President Cristina Fernandez.

Civil unions between people of the same sex have been legal in Buenos Aires and in some other provinces but there was no law, until now, to regulate it on a country-wide level.

For the record, same-sex civil unions are legal in Uruguay and some states in Brazil and Mexico, while gay marriage is legal in Mexico City.

There is a balm! You go Argentina!  View a complete news story from the BBC here.