Civil Unions Bill Passed In Mexico City

MEXICO CITY - The city assembly approved a new civil unions measure Thursday that would recognize the legal rights of gay couples, the first such legislation passed in this staunchly Roman Catholic country.
Championed by lawmakers with the leftist parties that control the Legislative Assembly of Mexico's Federal District, the bill was approved 43 to 17 and is expected to be signed by the city's mayor. The conservative National Action Party of President-elect Felipe Calderon opposed the measure.
A few hundred gay activists waving rainbow-colored flags gathered outside the legislative chambers to celebrate the vote, while a smaller group of counter-protesters looked on.
"It was a long, intense battle, but today we finally won," said Enoe Uranga, a lesbian activist who proposed the first civil union bill in 2001 as a Mexico City legislator. "Now we have to fight to apply the law, to show the citizenry that this is a noble law…. This is a historic day."
The bill also would grant new rights to unmarried heterosexual couples in this city of about 9 million people.
Catholic Church officials called it the first step toward the legalization of gay marriage and to laws that would allow gays to adopt children. Mexico's Conference of Bishops said it was an assault on the family.
"This is madness, it's unnatural, it's immoral," said Carlos Garza Díaz of the Fraternal Union of Christian Evangelical Churches. "We're very angry…. But society will finally judge and punish the political parties that voted for it."
The National Bar of Christian Attorneys, an evangelical group, also worked to defeat the bill.
The preamble to the bill called its passage "a true test of democratic pluralism" and a recognition of "the right to be different."
The bill cites scientific studies by Alfred Kinsey, a researcher in human sexual behavior, and others who have found homosexuality to be widespread.
To be gay in Mexico, the legislation says, is to suffer "social segregation," "violation of human rights" and to frequently face the danger of assault.
Alberto Begne, leader of the Social Democratic and Peasant Alternative Party, called the measure a step toward the construction of a country where "everyone is protected by the rule of law."
from The Los Angeles Times