Argentina legalized same-sex marriage July 15. The vote in the Senate at 4:05 a.m. was 33-27 with 3 abstentions.
The lower house previously passed the bill and, at press time, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was planning to sign it in a July 21 ceremony at the Casa Rosada.
"The bill has passed. It is law. The executive power will be notified," the Senate president said as the vote was displayed on an electronic board in the chamber.
The debate lasted nearly 15 hours.
"The result sparked euphoria among the (LGBT) activists who, despite the polar wave that grips the city, held a vigil in the Plaza of the Two Congresses," said Buenos Aires' Clarin newspaper.
The website of Argentina's main political gay group, la Federacion Argentina LGBT, was booted from the Internet and replaced with a "Bandwidth Limit Exceeded" notice.
"Today's historic vote shows how far Catholic Argentina has come, from dictatorship to true democratic values, and how far the freedom-to-marry movement has come as 12 countries on four continents now embrace marriage equality," said Evan Wolfson, head of the U.S. group Freedom to Marry.
"Key to Argentina's human rights achievement was strong leadership from legislators and the president. It is time we see more of our own elected officials standing up for the Constitution and all families here in the United States," Wolfson said. "America should lead, not lag, when it comes to treating everyone equally under the law."
The International Lesbian and Gay Association called the bill's passage a "triumph."
"Today, there is definitely more freedom and equality in the world thanks to Argentina: an example for the many countries in Southern and Northern hemispheres which still consider lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and intersex people as second-class citizens," said ILGA Co-Secretary General Renato Sabbadini.
City officials said the first wedding will take place Aug. 13 in Buenos Aires' trendy Palermo area. A longtime gay couple in their 60s will tie the knot at the office where they were turned away when they tried to marry three years ago.
Same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Mexico City, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington, D.C.
Argentina legalizes same-sex marriage
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