Friday November 10, 2006
Mexico City Legislature Votes to Approve Gay Civil Unions
By Gudrun Schultz
MEXICO CITY, November 10, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mexico City lawmakers voted to approve legal recognition for same-sex civil unions Thursday, in the first legislative decision favoring homosexual couples to take place in the strongly Roman Catholic country, the Associated Press reported today.
The measure stops short of permitting same-sex “marriages”, instead allowing homosexual couples to register with civil authorities and giving them spousal benefits and inheritance rights. The civil union bill will also be extended to heterosexual couples who are not legally married.
The bill was passed by a 43-17 vote in the Mexican City assembly. Opposition votes came from the pro-family National Action Party, led by President Vicente Fox and President-elect Felipe Calderon.
“This law…does not require anyone else to change their thinking, nor does it hurt the concept of the nuclear family,” legislator Juan Bustos, of the left-wing Democratic Revolution Party, said in defense of the measure. The PRD has pushed for same-sex civil unions in Mexico City for years. With a population of 8.7 million, Mexico City is a federal district with its own legislature.
The National Pro-Life Committee, in response to the vote, said it would consider seeking a court injunction to prevent the law from taking effect.
“This is really something sad for our country and it is a direct attempt against the family, because it constituties the legalization of homosexuality and obviously it is going to lead to an increase in this social wrong,” spokesman Jorge Serrano told the Associated Press.
The Mexican Council of Bishops said the law marks the first step in an inevitable progression toward legal homosexual marriage and adoption rights. The Catholic Church has strongly criticized the measure, as have pro-family groups. The National Parents Union spoke out against the law as “aberrant.”
A similar bill was introduced in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila earlier this week.
Read AP coverage:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6204343,00.html
See related LifeSiteNews coverage:
Mexico Introduces Graphic Sex Education; Catholic Bishops in Outrage
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/aug/06082204.html
Mexico Confirms Pro-Family Calderon Elected as President
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/sep/06090602.html
Human Rights Watch Urges Abortion Access in Mexico Under Concern for “Rape Victims”
http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06032706.html
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.