EL PAIS (Uruguay) CLARIN (Argentina)



MONTEVIDEO - The past year has been a momentous one for supporters of gay marriage. And 2013 looks like it may begin with at least one more country -- and the second ever in Latin America -- to legalize same-sex marriage.

Last week, the lower house of Uruguay’s legislature approved a bill legalizing same sex marriage, El Pais reports. The bill will now move to the Senate for approval and then to the desk of President Jose Mujica, who plans to sign the bill in the beginning of 2013, Clarin reports.

A 2011 Gay Right demonstration in Uruguay (Luz Rios)

In addition to legalizing same-sex marriage, the bill allows couples, both gay and heterosexual, to choose the order of their children’s last names. In Spanish-speaking countries it is common for children to have two last names - the first one from the father’s side of the family, the second one from the mother’s side.

Couples in Uruguay will now be able to choose the order, El Pais reports. Uruguay would be the second Latin American country to legalize gay marriage at a national level, after Argentina, which legalized gay marriage in 2010.