The informal ceremony was witnessed by state and federal officials. "My knees didn't stop shaking," said Di Bello. "We are the first gay couple in Latin America to marry." Di Bello, 41, an executive at the Argentinian Red Cross, met Freyre, 39, executive director of the Buenos Aires AIDS Foundation, at an HIV awareness conference.The governor, Fabiana Rios, said in a statement that gay marriage "is an important advance in human rights and social inclusion and we are very happy that this has happened in our state". An official representing the federal government's anti-discrimination agency, Claudio Morgado, attended the wedding and called the occasion "historic."Only seven countries in the world allow gay marriage outright: Canada, Spain, South Africa, Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium. US states that permit same-sex marriage are Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Hampshire. Other countries including Britain and New Zealand have civil unions that confer many of the rights of a married couple. This month, lawmakers in Mexico City made it the first country in Latin America to legalise same-sex marriage.
