Mexi-CAN: Our Progressive Neighbors to the South

One of the last places you would expect to be catapulted into the center of the gay rights debate is Mexico. In a country where most churchgoers are Roman Catholic and the influence of the Church is strong, there is little talk of such progressive issues as gay rights, legalized civil unions, and the right of gay couples to adopt children.

And yet, Mexico is tackling these issues.

Although the Catholic Church is opposed, just last year safe and legal abortions (up through the first 12 weeks) were made legal in Mexico City. But that’s not all that the city leaders are taking on. They also made divorce laws less cumbersome and legalized civil unions. And now, the news that lawmakers will legalize gay marriages and same-sex adoptions has the Catholic Church asking the federal government to intervene to stop the implementation of the new policies.

Recognizing families through policies that do not define their make-up, but instead recognize that families can come in many varieties, is a progressive start to stabilizing families in the largest metropolis in the world, where anywhere from 18 to 20 million people make their homes. A country that has been ripped apart by a bad economy, immigration issues, and corruption has taken enough hits to the nuclear family as it is.

The fear that legalizing same-sex marriage and adoptions will “weaken” the nuclear family is prevalent among Mexico City’s citizens. An unscientific poll indicated that half of those polled disapproved of gay marriage and about three-quarters opposed same-sex adoptions. Supporters argue that the matter is urgent: many children who currently live with two same-sex parents without legal status are also being deprived of “family” status; the extension of legal status to all children and parents should not be held hostage to fear of change, even if those objecting are in the majority.

The conflict between federal and state laws, religious influence in policy making, and heterosexual vs. homosexual freedoms are just as vivid and problematic for our neighbors as they are for us, if not more so. President Calderon defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman, but his attorney general disagreed and filed a challenge to the president’s proclamation, calling it “unconstitutional.” Sound familiar?

And yet the city leadership has managed to move their agenda forward and pass progressive policies that have equalized rights for many of the most disenfranchised and disadvantaged of their citizenry: women and LGBTQ people.

Although the USA is a leader in most areas (or claims to be), our record to date in recognizing and giving equal rights to LGBTQ couples has been patchy at best. Currently, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, and the Coquille Indian Tribe in Oregon, grant equal rights to same-sex couples. The District of Columbia might be next this year.

There is by no means a consensus on gay marriage and adoption rights in the U.S.. California did confer the right to marry and sanctioned same-sex ceremonies, but the honeymoon of equal rights for gays was only six months long. New York recognizes same-sex marriages from other states or countries, but does not allow them to be performed within the state. Go figure.

Why is it that we, a nation so far advanced in our “democracy” and with clear separation of church and state, cannot come to grips with the issue, as Mexico City has? Equal rights for all people should be a universal value held by all nations, but somehow something was lost in translation.

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