[JURIST] The city of Buenos Aires passed a resolution [press release, in Spanish] Friday that will recognize same-sex marriages [JURIST backgrounder] for non-citizens, making it the fourth district in Argentina to legalize such marriages. The new law allows tourists and other foreigners to exercise the same marriage rights afforded to citizens of Argentina. In a statement [text], the Federacion Argentina de Lesbianas, Gays, Bisexuales, y Trans (FALGBT) [advocacy website, in Spanish] said it was an important step for human rights around the world:

[FALGBT] hails the decision of the municipality of Buenos Aires to eliminate the administrative obstacles that prevented the marriage between two foreigners, a right guaranteed in Article 20 of the Constitution. … These advances arise as a result of FALGBT’s “Marriage Equality in Argentina for Every Couple in the World” campaign, through which we aim to extend the benefits of the Argentine marriage equality law to the entire planet, giving a boost to the campaigns for equality in other countries. It is in accordance with, in any case, the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Argentina and international human rights treaties incorporated after the constitutional reform of 1994.

The new law requires foreign couples to show their passports and give their approximate length of stay in the country to exercise the marriage rights. Same-sex marriage was legally recognized [JURIST report] in Argentina for citizens in 2010.

Governments across the globe have struggled to define rights for same-sex couples. Last week, the Israeli Knesset [official website] rejected a bill [JURIST report] that would have legalized civil marriages in the country. Earlier that week Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee signed an executive order [JURIST report] requiring government agencies to recognize same-sex marriages performed out-of-state. Earlier this month, voters in North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage [JURIST report]. In March, Israel’s Ramat Gan Family Court ruled that a lesbian couple can both be recognized as mothers of a child they had together, finding that it would defy logic and common sense to deny parental rights to both women.