San Juan, August 17 (teleSUR-RHC)-- More than 60 couples married on Sunday in the first ever multiple same-sex wedding in Puerto Rico, after the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision to declare such unions constitutional.

Under drizzling rain, newlyweds held umbrellas and bouquets decorated with the rainbow flag, as they passed by cheering crowds in San Juan.

Twenty-three religious leaders of various congregations led the ceremony in front of the Puerto Rico Tourism Company, an agency that promotes the Caribbean island as an international destination for equal marriage.

The new unions will enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples, such as joint tax declarations and pension and inheritance rights, in line with the Puerto Rico civil code. 

However, Puerto Rico’s strong religious and conservative faction objected to the move, with Roman Catholic bishop of Arecibo, Monsignor Daniel Fernandez Torres calling it “contrary to natural law.”