Gay Marriage in Mexico

The article, Gay Marriage Puts Mexico City at Center of Debate, from the New York Times, talks about the gay rights movement in Mexico and how the national government feels about gay marriage vs. the local government.

Mexico City is a liberal "enclave" in the largely conservative country, and after 30 years of activism, Mexico City passed on Dec. 22, 2009, a new law which goes into effect March 4, that will legalize gay marriage and allow same-sex couples to adopt. This has brought Mexico City onto the big stage of the global gay rights movement, and has brought with it much anger and opposition within Mexico. Mexico's National Action Party did an "unscientific poll" and found "just over half of the respondents disapproved of gay marriage and about three-quarters opposed adoption by same-sex couples." This and the apparent disapproval of this new law in Mexico City by the President and national government, show how large the cleavage between Mexico City's views and the rest of Mexico is. The Catholic Church has gotten itself involved and many groups have asked the government to intervene in Mexico City's decision. This was a huge “political gamble” for Mexico City’s mayor, Marcelo Ebrard who was thinking about running for president in 2012, his liberal views are not popular throughout Mexico. The article goes on to talk about other Latin American countries and how reform has been growing across Latin America, “Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia all recognize some form of civil unions.”

This is a topic that has found its way into every country, and is important to look at when comparing the amount of civil rights given to a country’s people. This issue shows the ideological cleavage between the minority liberals in Mexico, to the obvious majority of conservatives. Public policy also comes into play with this discussion, allowing gay marriages in Mexico City and the national government not abusing its powers to get this new law out, are steps forward in a democratic nation whether you personally agree with gay marriage or not.