CAMPBELL: In the nineteenth century, a sensual dance called tango emerged from the brothels of Buenos Aires. The city has been shocking its neighbours ever since. Now its challenging some of the core values of South America, catholic conservatism and Latin machismo.
Buenos Aires is now at the forefront of bringing equality to gays. In a continent where some countries still frown on divorce and abortion, Buenos Aires is even opening up the institution of marriage to gay men giving new meaning to the phrase it takes two to tango.
Tuesday night is mixed night at the Besos Brujos Tango Palace in suburban Buenos Aires. Regulars weave their way between gay and lesbian couples, each with their own interpretation of the dance of love.
Estaban and his partner Leo have come out with family and friends for a special celebration. In a few days time, theyre getting married.
xxx: From the moment that we decided to get married, we started to experience new things in our relationship as well.
LEO: Its also like to dignify each other, to build something. We want to share with people that we love and friends and to share this very special moment.
CAMPBELL: Leo and Esteban will be joined in civil union, a legal ceremony that puts gay and lesbian relationships on the same footing as traditional marriages. Buenos Aires is the first city to take the plunge in South America. Gay activists hail it as a giant step forward for equality but some fear its a backward slide toward moral decline.
PRIEST: We can be understanding and charitable towards homosexuals but were going to clearly defend the natural character of the family constituted in a union of marriage between a man and a woman.
CAMPBELL: Not so long ago, Leo and Esteban could not have imagined theyd be out shopping for their wedding. They grew up in working class neighbourhoods where gays were tolerated but not condoned. In the capital at least, times have changed.
ESTEBAN: Probably in the interior of Argentina they are more conservative. Buenos Aires is better off than many other cities in Europe regarding gay places and gay attractions and gay tourism. People are just very open-minded. We are machos during the day but at night not that macho.
CAMPBELL: If anything is a clear signpost of acceptance, its that gays are now welcome in that national obsession football. Leo trains with Argentinas premier gay team.
ESTEBAN: Leo is playing tonight with them and hes doing very well. Hes doing very well. He scored already. Go, go, go!
CAMPBELL: Is there any problem being a gay footballer? Any stigma in the competition?
ESTEBAN: Well I dont think so personally. At least Leo never confronted any stigma or discrimination. You hear stories. When they won against the hetero team, they said how come the faggots, they... they won!.
CAMPBELL: But not everyone is celebrating. The gay community has always had a combative relationship with the Catholic Church. At last years Gay Pride Rally, militant churchgoers clashed angrily with militant gays.
CATHOLIC MAN: Fine if they want to march, or stick a duster handle up their arse but we won't be forced to do it or to be forced to say its a beautiful thing because thats not freedom.
CAMPBELL: The introduction of civil unions has set the scene for a major showdown. Gay activists are now vowing to spread the scheme across the country.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: The Argentinean Gay Community will put forward a civil union bill at the national level and were going to include the two rights still outstanding the right to inheritance and the right to adopt.
CAMPBELL: Cesar Cigliutti heads Argentinas oldest gay rights organisation CHA. In 2003 he and his partner Marcelo Suntheim were the first gay couple in South America to have a civil union.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: In this case it was us, we wanted to do something public but it was an intimate private act of love. It was also a political statement.
CAMPBELL: Now theyve embarked on their next campaign to adopt a child. CHA is lobbying the national congress to give full adoption rights to gay civil unions.
MARCELLO SUNTHEIM: I would like to be able to teach someone what I have learnt throughout my life which is to build my own dignity and pride through my own efforts and a struggle for what is my right.
CAMPBELL: That has been a call to arms for the Catholic Church. At La Plata Cathedral outside Buenos Aires, the faithful gather for the Day of Immaculate Conception. Its a celebration of the Virgin's birth and a showcase of the model Christian family. Archbishop Hector Aguer reminds the congregation of the purity of Gods example.
While the church has so far failed to stop gay civil unions, its drawing a line on gay adoption.
ARCHBISHOP HECTOR AGUER: I think the consequences would be terrible for the children and its an assault on the rights of children who need to have a dad and a mum. The confusion that it generates in the mind of the little ones could be terrible for their future life.
CAMPBELL: But many children dont have anyone to call a parent. Buenos Aires is thought to have at least four thousand street children, most begging or scavenging off garbage to survive. Their numbers have swollen since Argentinas currency collapsed four years ago.
ESTEBAN: Well Im totally in favour of adoption. Im a teacher. Leo my partner is a teacher and we are perfectly able and capable to raise children. We are not planning now or in the near future to do that but what is better to have one child without parents at all or one child with two mothers or two parents? I think it is much better the second option.
CAMPBELL: Its not yet clear if the government will heed the church or the gay lobby but the churchs influence is not what it use to be.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: More than 80% of the population belongs to the Catholic Church but its also true that people believe in separation of Church and State. The church says dont use condoms and kids use them anyway. The church says no divorce and everyone divorces. No sex and everyone keeps having sex.
CAMPBELL: The Church has never recovered from the darkest period of Argentinas history, the Dirty War. From 1976 to 1983 a military dictatorship oversaw the execution of thirty thousand dissidents.
ESTEBAN: The Church lost credibility in Argentina. I remember as a child seeing all the presidents that we have there in the junta with the priests at their side and we know today by the confession, many of the criminals of the military junta that they had priests blessing the bodies before they were thrown in the Rio La Plata river from planes.
ARCHBISHOP HECTOR AGUER: No, Ive never heard of anything like that except for what has been published in the media as accusations after the fact. I was a young priest at the time, just beginning my religious life and I dont remember anything of the kind. It seems unlikely to me that anything like that could have happened.
CAMPBELL: More recently the Church has been rocked by the same scandals that have undermined its standing in other nations revelations of child abuse and a priest engaging in the practices they so piously condemn.
ESTEBAN: The church is very hypocritical about gay relations. If you go to any church you will see many priests that are very, is evident their sexuality. I mean they are gay or they practice gay relations, not to talk about the abuses of the church regarding children and this is worldwide, its not only in Argentina and South America. It is a hypocrisy.
CAMPBELL: The social pendulum is certainly swinging toward gays. This is how many young people celebrated the Day of Immaculate Conception. More than two thousand squeezed into the Amerika Club, one of Buenos Aires most popular gay venues.
ESTEBAN: I will say that a quarter of them are openly declared gay. The others are very confused people probably. Its an open place where everyone, they just go and if they find somebody male or female, is somebody.
CAMPBELL: Two days later Leo and Esteban are getting ready for a more modest get together, their wedding. The city registry treats civil unions like nay other marriage ceremony. The groom and groom wait their turn in the foyer along with friends and family.
LEOS SISTER: Im very moved. Its my little brother. Theres a lot of nerves but Im happy to see Leo happy with Esteban. What more could you want?
CAMPBELL: For the older generation it can all be a bit daunting but Estebans Jewish mother has just one reservation.
ESTEBANS MOTHER: Im very happy that my son Esteban is getting married to Leo today. The only problem is that Leos not Jewish.
JUDGE: And now I want to hear from you. Why do you want this civil union and what does it mean for you?
LEO: Showing publicly that this is the person I want, the person I love and who I want to share the rest of my life with and to share this with all of you here too - and what better occasion than this one.
ESTEBAN: It also gives others the opportunity to express affection and approval.... and to receive gifts.
CAMPBELL: It might just be the start of a social revolution and a dream come true for thousands of gay lovers.
JUDGE: Gentlemen here is your certificate and I wish you every happiness.
LEO: When we are children we dream of becoming an astronaut, a doctor, being a teacher. Among those dreams you also dream of getting married, having a family. Thats why its very important that here in Argentina we can do it.
Buenos Aires is now at the forefront of bringing equality to gays. In a continent where some countries still frown on divorce and abortion, Buenos Aires is even opening up the institution of marriage to gay men giving new meaning to the phrase it takes two to tango.
Tuesday night is mixed night at the Besos Brujos Tango Palace in suburban Buenos Aires. Regulars weave their way between gay and lesbian couples, each with their own interpretation of the dance of love.
Estaban and his partner Leo have come out with family and friends for a special celebration. In a few days time, theyre getting married.
xxx: From the moment that we decided to get married, we started to experience new things in our relationship as well.
LEO: Its also like to dignify each other, to build something. We want to share with people that we love and friends and to share this very special moment.
CAMPBELL: Leo and Esteban will be joined in civil union, a legal ceremony that puts gay and lesbian relationships on the same footing as traditional marriages. Buenos Aires is the first city to take the plunge in South America. Gay activists hail it as a giant step forward for equality but some fear its a backward slide toward moral decline.
PRIEST: We can be understanding and charitable towards homosexuals but were going to clearly defend the natural character of the family constituted in a union of marriage between a man and a woman.
CAMPBELL: Not so long ago, Leo and Esteban could not have imagined theyd be out shopping for their wedding. They grew up in working class neighbourhoods where gays were tolerated but not condoned. In the capital at least, times have changed.
ESTEBAN: Probably in the interior of Argentina they are more conservative. Buenos Aires is better off than many other cities in Europe regarding gay places and gay attractions and gay tourism. People are just very open-minded. We are machos during the day but at night not that macho.
CAMPBELL: If anything is a clear signpost of acceptance, its that gays are now welcome in that national obsession football. Leo trains with Argentinas premier gay team.
ESTEBAN: Leo is playing tonight with them and hes doing very well. Hes doing very well. He scored already. Go, go, go!
CAMPBELL: Is there any problem being a gay footballer? Any stigma in the competition?
ESTEBAN: Well I dont think so personally. At least Leo never confronted any stigma or discrimination. You hear stories. When they won against the hetero team, they said how come the faggots, they... they won!.
CAMPBELL: But not everyone is celebrating. The gay community has always had a combative relationship with the Catholic Church. At last years Gay Pride Rally, militant churchgoers clashed angrily with militant gays.
CATHOLIC MAN: Fine if they want to march, or stick a duster handle up their arse but we won't be forced to do it or to be forced to say its a beautiful thing because thats not freedom.
CAMPBELL: The introduction of civil unions has set the scene for a major showdown. Gay activists are now vowing to spread the scheme across the country.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: The Argentinean Gay Community will put forward a civil union bill at the national level and were going to include the two rights still outstanding the right to inheritance and the right to adopt.
CAMPBELL: Cesar Cigliutti heads Argentinas oldest gay rights organisation CHA. In 2003 he and his partner Marcelo Suntheim were the first gay couple in South America to have a civil union.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: In this case it was us, we wanted to do something public but it was an intimate private act of love. It was also a political statement.
CAMPBELL: Now theyve embarked on their next campaign to adopt a child. CHA is lobbying the national congress to give full adoption rights to gay civil unions.
MARCELLO SUNTHEIM: I would like to be able to teach someone what I have learnt throughout my life which is to build my own dignity and pride through my own efforts and a struggle for what is my right.
CAMPBELL: That has been a call to arms for the Catholic Church. At La Plata Cathedral outside Buenos Aires, the faithful gather for the Day of Immaculate Conception. Its a celebration of the Virgin's birth and a showcase of the model Christian family. Archbishop Hector Aguer reminds the congregation of the purity of Gods example.
While the church has so far failed to stop gay civil unions, its drawing a line on gay adoption.
ARCHBISHOP HECTOR AGUER: I think the consequences would be terrible for the children and its an assault on the rights of children who need to have a dad and a mum. The confusion that it generates in the mind of the little ones could be terrible for their future life.
CAMPBELL: But many children dont have anyone to call a parent. Buenos Aires is thought to have at least four thousand street children, most begging or scavenging off garbage to survive. Their numbers have swollen since Argentinas currency collapsed four years ago.
ESTEBAN: Well Im totally in favour of adoption. Im a teacher. Leo my partner is a teacher and we are perfectly able and capable to raise children. We are not planning now or in the near future to do that but what is better to have one child without parents at all or one child with two mothers or two parents? I think it is much better the second option.
CAMPBELL: Its not yet clear if the government will heed the church or the gay lobby but the churchs influence is not what it use to be.
CESAR CIGLIUTTI: More than 80% of the population belongs to the Catholic Church but its also true that people believe in separation of Church and State. The church says dont use condoms and kids use them anyway. The church says no divorce and everyone divorces. No sex and everyone keeps having sex.
CAMPBELL: The Church has never recovered from the darkest period of Argentinas history, the Dirty War. From 1976 to 1983 a military dictatorship oversaw the execution of thirty thousand dissidents.
ESTEBAN: The Church lost credibility in Argentina. I remember as a child seeing all the presidents that we have there in the junta with the priests at their side and we know today by the confession, many of the criminals of the military junta that they had priests blessing the bodies before they were thrown in the Rio La Plata river from planes.
ARCHBISHOP HECTOR AGUER: No, Ive never heard of anything like that except for what has been published in the media as accusations after the fact. I was a young priest at the time, just beginning my religious life and I dont remember anything of the kind. It seems unlikely to me that anything like that could have happened.
CAMPBELL: More recently the Church has been rocked by the same scandals that have undermined its standing in other nations revelations of child abuse and a priest engaging in the practices they so piously condemn.
ESTEBAN: The church is very hypocritical about gay relations. If you go to any church you will see many priests that are very, is evident their sexuality. I mean they are gay or they practice gay relations, not to talk about the abuses of the church regarding children and this is worldwide, its not only in Argentina and South America. It is a hypocrisy.
CAMPBELL: The social pendulum is certainly swinging toward gays. This is how many young people celebrated the Day of Immaculate Conception. More than two thousand squeezed into the Amerika Club, one of Buenos Aires most popular gay venues.
ESTEBAN: I will say that a quarter of them are openly declared gay. The others are very confused people probably. Its an open place where everyone, they just go and if they find somebody male or female, is somebody.
CAMPBELL: Two days later Leo and Esteban are getting ready for a more modest get together, their wedding. The city registry treats civil unions like nay other marriage ceremony. The groom and groom wait their turn in the foyer along with friends and family.
LEOS SISTER: Im very moved. Its my little brother. Theres a lot of nerves but Im happy to see Leo happy with Esteban. What more could you want?
CAMPBELL: For the older generation it can all be a bit daunting but Estebans Jewish mother has just one reservation.
ESTEBANS MOTHER: Im very happy that my son Esteban is getting married to Leo today. The only problem is that Leos not Jewish.
JUDGE: And now I want to hear from you. Why do you want this civil union and what does it mean for you?
LEO: Showing publicly that this is the person I want, the person I love and who I want to share the rest of my life with and to share this with all of you here too - and what better occasion than this one.
ESTEBAN: It also gives others the opportunity to express affection and approval.... and to receive gifts.
CAMPBELL: It might just be the start of a social revolution and a dream come true for thousands of gay lovers.
JUDGE: Gentlemen here is your certificate and I wish you every happiness.
LEO: When we are children we dream of becoming an astronaut, a doctor, being a teacher. Among those dreams you also dream of getting married, having a family. Thats why its very important that here in Argentina we can do it.