Gay couples granted right to partners' pensions

By CNN's Tom Watkins

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) - In a nationwide measure, Argentina has granted gay couples the right to collect the pensions of their dead partners.

The National Social Security Administration's director is to sign the resolution on Tuesday, and it will become law upon publication the following Wednesday. It requires that same-sex couples show they have lived together for at least five years.

Maria Rachid, president of the Buenos Aires-based Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans, said she has been fighting for this change for a decade. She credited the government of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner for creating the environment in which such a change could take place.