The First Official Jewish Same-Sex Wedding in Latin America

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By JTA April 7, 2016

(JTA) – A synagogue in Buenos Aires will host the first official same-sex Jewish marriage held in a synagogue in Latin America.

The synagogue and Jewish community center NCI-Emanu El and the LGTB organization Judios Argentinos Gay (Jews Argentinian Gays), or JAG, announced Wednesday that the assembly of NCI last month unanimously approved a request to hold a same-sex wedding, and that Romi Charur and Vicky Escobar will meet under the huppah sometime this month. No exact date was released.

Both groups said in the announcement that it is the first official same-sex Jewish marriage to be held in a religious setting in Latin America.

NCI-Emanu El belongs to both the Conservative and Reform movements.

The approval “is another major step in the full recognition of all religious rights for all members of the community,” NCI Emanuel and JAG said in a statement. The decision was made under the guidelines of the 2006 Committee on Jewish Law and Standards of the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, which approved same-sex marriages for the movement.

The 2006 ruling by the committee “favor[s] the establishment of committed and loving relationships for gay and lesbian Jews.” In 2012, specific guidelines were issued for same-sex wedding rituals.

Argentina was the first country in Latin America to approve same-sex marriages, which have been legal since July 2010. Charur and Escobar had a civil marriage in 2014.

JAG said in a statement issued Wednesday that it “celebrates this foundational event in community life and expresses hope that the decision taken by NCI-Emanu El will be emulated by other Jewish communities in Argentina and Latin America. This first step is a contribution to building a more just, equitable and inclusive society.”

JAG and NCI Emanu El both are part of the Judaica Fundation network of Jewish institutions.

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