Over 100 gay and lesbian couples have married in the first 30 days since Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize gay marriage.

Architect Juan Carlos Navarro, 54, and Miguel Angel Calefato, 65, inaugurated the law on Friday, July 30 in provincial Santiago del Estero.

The Navarro-Calefato wedding made history after it leapfrogged ahead of another couple, Alejandro Vanelli and Ernesto Larresse, who married two hours later in Buenos Aires. Navarro said the couple was not driven by the desire to be the first, but by the desire to be legally married.

Seventy-two male couples and thirty-one female couples have also tied the knot during the law's first 30 days.

Officials say they have received over 300 applications from gay couples looking to adopt a child.

The average age of men marrying was 57 and couples had been living together at least ten years. Many said they decided to marry because one of the partners was ill.

Buenos Aires, the nation's largest city, has scheduled 38 weddings for September. Other couples said they would wait to marry until after the media frenzy dies down.