A court in Uruguay has for the first time recognized the legal marriage of a gay couple.

Judge Eduardo Martinez recognized on appeal the legality of a marriage entered into in Spain, where Socialists legalized marriage equality in 2005.

The binational couple lives in both Uruguay and Spain, El Pais reported.

Attorney Michelle Suarez, a legal adviser to the gay rights group Ovejas Negras (Black Sheep), intervened to represent the couple. She is considered the nation's first openly transgender person to practice law.

“This ruling turns the jurisprudence that has existed in Uruguay in the last 40 years,” she told the paper.

The couple now has all the rights and responsibilities of marriage, Suarez explained.

“This ruling opens a paradox because a gay couple cannot marry in Uruguay but, for example, they travel and marry in Argentina that marriage could be legalized in our country,” she said.

Gay rights group Ovejas Negras described the ruling as “historic” in a statement posted on its website.

Currently, Uruguay recognizes gay and lesbian couples with civil unions. After a couple has lived in a “stable relationship” for 5 years they may petition the government for recognition.