MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguayan Senate approves by a clear majority same-sex marriage

The bill now must return to the Lower House, where approval of the new version is expected

The Uruguayan Senate voted overwhelmingly, 23-8, in favor of a same-sex marriage measure Tuesday, which now must return to the Lower House before it is finally approved and signed by President Jose Mujica who has indicated he supports the measure.

The bill would make Uruguay the second country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage. Neighboring Argentina legalized such marriages in 2010.

It's an issue that's sparked debate and impassioned demonstrations from supporters and opponents in many countries.

The first same-sex couples walked down the aisle in the Netherlands in 2001. Since then almost a dozen countries have passed laws allowing same sex marriages and domestic partnerships, including Canada, South Africa, Belgium and Spain.

In Argentina, the push to legalize same-sex marriage met with fierce opposition from the Roman Catholic Church, with Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio -- then the archbishop of Buenos Aires and now the pope – engaging in a notorious war of words with the government over the issue.

In Uruguay, the church has taken a similar tack, with officials describing the measure as a harsh blow to the institutions of marriage and the family.

“Why make relative or devalue an institution that is already so injured, like the family, introducing deep modifications that are going to confuse more than clarify?” Bishop Pablo Galimberti wrote in a recent post on the website of the Uruguayan Bishops Council.

Uruguay's ruling coalition Broad Front backs the measure and on Tuesday the group's president stressed that the proposed law changed a civil institution and has nothing to do with the church.

“Here we are speaking about ‘rights’, with capital letters. Rights that were denied and repressed for a long time, and which a society that is trying to be modern and inclusive necessarily must recognize, to advance in equality” wrote Senator Monica Xavier.

In 2009, Uruguay was the first Latinamerican country to allow same-sex couples to adopt children. It was also one the first Latin American countries to allow same-sex civil unions.

The measure approved by Uruguayan senators Tuesday removes the words “man” and “woman” from the country's civil code and replaces them with the word “spouse”.