In Chile on Sunday, Senator Fulvio Rossi announced his plan to sponsor a marriage equality bill.

His bill is expected to encounter opposition from religious leaders, conservative president Sebastian Pinera, and other members of Congress, according to Reuters Canada. Yet just last month, Argentina, a border country of Chile, became the first country in Catholic Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage.

According to Reuters Canada, Rossi told reporters, “This is a project that I will present … and I am also calling on the Church to be more welcoming, and I say that as part of the Church.”

Ireland has signed into law benefits for gay and lesbian couples in the prominently Catholic country. Ireland now provides more rights for gay couples then the United States. The Civil Partnership Bill, which provides legal recognition for same-sex couples was signed today by President Mary McAleese at Áras an Uachtaráin.

This Bill extends marriage-like benefits to gay and lesbian couples for property, social welfare, succession, maintenance, pensions and tax.

After the signing of the Bill, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern described it as “one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation to be enacted since independence.”

The widely supported Bill was approved by 48 votes to 4 on Friday July 9th.

Wednesday the Argentinean Senate is expected to pass a Gay Marriage bill that would allow same-sex couples the same rights at heterosexual couples in the nation. President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner has said she would sign the bill, which already passed the lower chamber of the legislature. Both she and her Congressman husband have been supporters of marriage equality in the nation. If the legislation passes and is signed into law, Argentina will become the first Latin American country to allow same-sex marriages. In December, Mexico City became the first jurisdiction in Latin American and two other nations, Uruguay and Colombia, allow civil unions for gay couples.

 There has been a vast religious opposition towards the legislation in Argentina from the Roman Catholic Church, organizing many protests against the bill. President Kirchner responded by criticizing the church for its lack to adjustment of modern reality. Supporters cite polls showing that the overwhelming majority of citizens, around 70 percent support marriage equality. The bill is expected to be passed.

Victory for Marriage Equality! A Boston Judge ruled today that the 1996 DOMA is unconstitutional because it interferes with a state’s right to define marriage. U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro handed down two influential rulings Thursday declaring DOMA unconstitutional.

 The first case was brought by the state of Massachusetts. Judge Tauro declared Congress violated the Tenth Amendment by originally passing DOMA. They took away the states decisions determining which couples can be considered married.

His second ruling was on Gill v. Office of Personnel Management. It was decided that DOMA violated equal protection embodied in the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment. This case was argued by Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD), GLAD represented eight married couples and three widowers in the suit.

 Two other major equality court cases continue to develop in California, the Prop. 8 trial and Log Cabin Republicans trial against the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. The decision in Boston today is a great step toward equality for all Americans, regardless of their sexual orientation.

Hawaii’s state legislature passed legislation legislation affording same-sex couples many of the same rights enjoyed by heterosexual couples. The state House of Representatives passed the bill by a 31-20 vote late Thursday, but Republican Governor Linda Lingle has until early July to sign or veto the groundbreaking new law.

Marriage equality in the ‘Aloha State’ has a long history, as it was in 1991, in a decision by the State Supreme Court that invalidated laws that prohibited same sex couples from wedding. However as a reaction to this action, voters passed a constitutional amendment empowering the legislation to define marriage as a heterosexual insitution. That referenda did not close the door on civil unions though.

If approved, Hawaii will become one of six states including California, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington granting civil union status to same sex couples. Full civil marriage are legal in Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, DC. Marriages performed in other states are recognized in Maryland, New York and Rhode Island.

The legislation has sparked an intense lobbying effort by the Catholic Archdiocese and many religious groups seeking a veto from Governor Lingle.

Reade more about Hawai’i’s new civil union law and the efforts surrounding the legislation in the Honolu Advertiser.