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 Editorials | Issues | November 2006 
Gay Union Debate Spreads to Coahuila
 Reuters
| | A gay couple acts out a marriage ceremony on Valentine's Day in Mexico City, February 14, 2003. Mexico's northern border state of Coahuila is considering a law to allow homosexual civil unions, just days before Mexico City could legalize gay partnerships for the first time in the world's second-biggest Catholic nation. (Daniel Aguilar/Reuters) |
Mexico's northern border state of Coahuila is considering a law to allow homosexual civil unions, just days before Mexico City could legalize gay partnerships for the first time in the world's second-biggest Catholic nation.
While the measure has been discussed for five years in the leftist capital, it is surprising it is being seriously debated in Coahuila, a conservative ranching and mining region.
The bill was introduced on Tuesday by a member of the majority Institutional Revolutionary Party and has the support of the governor.
"We should respect all people, the rights of every person independent of sexual affiliation, of ideology, of religion; you have to be respectful of them, it would be discriminatory not to," said Gov. Humberto Moreira in a statement.
Coahuila once formed a state with Texas, which was part of Mexico before the United States annexed much of what is now the U.S. southwest in the mid-19th century.
Some doubt the Coahuila bill will be approved in a state that voted overwhelmingly conservative in the July presidential election. A full vote in the local congress could take weeks.
The law would give gay couples pension, property and other rights but falls short of allowing them to adopt children.
Even if it does not become law, the bill has brought to Mexico's heartland a debate that was largely confined to Mexico City. The city is expected to pass a similar law on Thursday, giving the country its first same-sex unions in late February or early March.
Argentine capital Buenos Aires legalized same-sex unions in 2002, in a move hailed as a first in Latin America.
Many opponents in Mexico's powerful Catholic Church believe the public is against gay unions and they accused the Mexico City assembly of hurriedly sneaking the legislation through to avoid debate.
In the homosexual community, activists heralded the local assemblies' moves but agreed Mexico may not be ready for full gay marriage.
"The fight won't end here. It is a first step to finally achieving equal rights. But we knew that in Mexico it wasn't possible to go right for marriage," said Rocio Sanchez of the gay rights group NotieSe.
Mexico's government has a long history of feuding with the church, but gay union sponsors in Coahuila and Mexico City insist it does not undermine traditional marriage. They call it a legal contract between two individuals in a homosexual, heterosexual or even platonic relationship. |
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