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Fifteen years after the passage of the Equal Marriage Law , activists for sexual diversity and allies held a "libretazo" (a protest) in front of the Civil Registry of the City of Buenos Aires, with music, colors, and their red marriage certificates held high. The objective: to celebrate and defend this law, passed on July 15, 2010, on another anniversary and in a context of attacks on hard-won rights.

“This historic moment deserves to be celebrated, but also, of course, deserves to be defended against the far-right's attacks on equality, diversity, and democratic coexistence,” activist Martín Canevaro, a member of 100% Diversity and Rights and the Pride and Struggle Front told Presentes , where this event was coordinated with other organizations.

Activists emphasized that this law expanded rights for the LGBT+ community by recognizing the legal equality of same-sex couples. It also paved the way for new regulations that guarantee rights, such as the Gender Identity Law , passed in 2012, or the possibility of registering children of two mothers or two fathers.

“This law changed our lives in general, and mine and my family's in particular, because it paved the way for us to register our children as children of two mothers. Until then, only one of them had rights over her children,” Paula Llewellyn of 100% DyD shared with this agency. “Defending them at this time is paramount because they're going all out, and so are we,” she added.

Activist Greta Pena, former director of INADI and of the Undersecretariat of Diversity Policies at the Ministry of Women, Gender, and Diversity , married her partner at this civil registry 15 years ago. “We didn't want to enter this institution to assimilate, but rather to form a more democratic form of family. And that was achieved: after equal marriage came the possibility of procreative will, of being able to form families where desire and will were the guiding principle. Today, heterosexual couples can add their last name alongside their partner's, and can even put it first. Then came the Gender Identity Law, and then the possibility of accessing legal, safe, and free abortion,” she told participants. Former Minister of Gender, Elizabeth Gómez Alcorta, was also present at the event.

On the block outside the civil registry, José and Gerardo sheltered under an umbrella in the colors of the Pride movement, wearing their wedding rings and red ID cards. “We came to celebrate that we are together, that we are married, that we have rights. We didn't need this to be together, but we did need this to be recognized for the same rights that other people already have. We stopped being second-class citizens,” Gerardo told Presentes . José added: “It's only been 15 years since we began to be equal to others, that's very little. Other rights are missing.”

The organizations that make up the Pride and Struggle Front issued a Declaration for the 15th anniversary of the passage of the same-sex marriage law in Argentina. In it, they highlight the achievements made possible by this legislation and warn about the current hostile environment facing the group, in the face of attacks and disdain from the Javier Milei administration. Within this framework, they called on all political, union, cultural, academic, and other representative sectors of society to sign the following points: “Reject any proposal that attempts to curtail, undermine, or diminish human rights in Argentina. Support the rights of LGBTTTINB+ people, reject hate speech and the dismantling of public policies on human rights, gender, and sexual diversity. Support proposals and policies that aim to strengthen human rights, equality, and non-discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. Renew support for LGBTTTINB+ networks and associations that defend and promote human rights, seeking to come together in multisectoral, multi-party, and cross-cutting common spaces to defend the rights achieved.”

"I would like to remind everyone that this law was achieved through a collective struggle. I believe that today, in particular, it's necessary to unite. Let's not forget that the achievement of rights is a collective struggle," said La Criada during the event , which she attended wearing a light blue tulle dress.

Dario Arias, co-founder of Conurbanes por la Diversidad and co-secretary of ILGA-LAC , wanted to remember the activists from all the country's provinces, the universities, and the movements that took part in a struggle that was federal. "We want to send a message of strength and optimism because they will not defeat us. And we will be able to advance in defending and achieving more rights and defeating neo-fascist and far-right projects," he concluded.

The law's passage was the result of more than 30 years of activism for LGBT rights, as well as the political decision of the progressive government of the time, led by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.