"On a par with Venice or San Francisco"
Mexico City has legalized same-sex marriages and will permit homosexuals to adopt children, a move that has brought stinging criticism from the Church and vows of intervention by the federal government.
On Dec. 21, the legislative assembly of the Federal District, dominated by the left-leaning Party of the Democratic Revolution, voted 39-20 to amend the capital city's civil code to change the definition of marriage to the "free uniting of two people." The new definition will allow same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for joint bank loans, inherit property and be name as beneficiaries on each other's insurance policies.
The Federal District, which includes Mexico City, has its own legislature and is similar to Washington, D.C. -- a federal enclave that serves as the nation's capital. The move by the district's local legislature is the most recent to send shockwaves across the country. In April 2007, the same legislature legalized unrestricted abortion through the 12th week of pregnancy. The law was challenged as unconstitutional by the federal government, but Mexico's Supreme Court later upheld the measure.
The right-of-center National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon, which currently governs Mexico, has promised to fight the same-sex marriage law in the courts, noting particular concern about the adoption provisions, while Church leaders and the College of Catholic Lawyers have decried its passage.
In a Sunday homily following the adoption of the law, Cardinal Norberto Rivera, Archbishop of Mexico City, said the measure attacks "the essence of the family." Armando Martinez, president of the College of Catholic Lawyers, told the press his group would support legal challenges to the new law, and has planned demonstrations against same-sex marriages in the sprawling city.
"We are going to carry out exhaustive campaigns at the offices of the justices of the peace in the city, using acts of peaceful civil resistance to prevent homosexual couples from being married," Martinez said.
"They have given Mexicans the most bitter Christmas," MartÃnez told reporters. "They are permitting adoption and in one stroke of the pen have erased the term 'mother' and 'father.'" He has also called on traditional couples to boycott Mexico City as a site for their weddings.
Supporters of same-sex marriage said the law will make Mexico City a "vanguard city" among homosexuals and lead to an increase in tourism revenues. "Mexico City will become a center, where (gay) people from all over the world will be able to come and have their wedding, and then spend their honeymoon here," Alejandro Rojas, the city's tourism secretary, told the Associated Press. "We are already in talks with some travel agencies that are planning to offer package tours that include flights, hotels, guides, and everything they need for the wedding, like banquets. We are going to become a city on a par with Venice or San Francisco."
The law permitting same-sex marriages in Mexico City takes effect in March.
