BUENOS AIRES, Argentina – Marriage equality may be near in Argentina.

By a 129-105 vote, with six abstentions, the House of Deputies approved same-sex marriage on Wednesday, May 5.

The Senate will now take up the legislation. If the Senate also passes the bill, President Cristina Fernandez has promised not to veto it.

Gay rights activist Esteban Paulon said the vote in the House of Deputies is historic - the first time a marriage-equality initiative has been debated in a national legislature in Latin America.

Five gay and lesbian couples have already been married by Argentine judges who rules that the country's constitution supports freedom of choice for couples. But some of the marriages have been overturned by the high court.

Conservatives led by the Roman Catholic Church strongly opposes the marriage equality.

If Argentina approves gay marriage, it would join Canada as the only other country in the Americas offering marriage equality.