Mexican Bishop Raúl Vera: You'd have to be mentally ill to see gays as perverse or depraved

A lot has been said about Pope Francis' recent of the cuff comments on gays ("Who am I to judge?") and hundreds of religious leaders world wide have been asked to share their thoughts but I was still surprised to see this interview with Saltillo Bishop Raúl Vera posted by Terra Mexico yesterday ("Homophobia is a mental illness: Saltillo bishop").

The Bishop has some funky theories on what determines whether someone is born gay (he chalks it up to hormonal differences) but speaks forcefully against religious based homophobia and calls homophobes the perverse ones.


Here is Bishop Vera on a mother who worried her son was hanging out with a bunch of "degenerate gays':

One mother came to me and said that she was being watchful of her son because he was hanging out with "those degenerate gays" and I said "so blame yourself for it because that's the way your son developed in your womb and he didn't develop into a degenerate or a perverse person. He was born with a certain constitution you are trying to ignore. Calm down, you are the mother of that child and he began to be who he now is inside your womb. So the first one I'd kick out would be you because you are the perverse one who is first in line." That's what I said.

And on homophobes:

Why would I immediately think a gay or lesbian person is perverse or depraved the moment they approach me? That's how people who are homophobic react. It's a mental illness in which you see gays as depraved and promiscuous.  You have to be sick in the head for that.

He also tells the reporter people have to stop bashing gays with the words of the Bible and that they should read the passages they use to condemn gays within a historical context to realize the Bible does not condemn homosexuality.

In December, the Associated Press profiled Bishop Vera and described his human rights work in a Mexican region known for the high rates of violence ("Mexico bishop inspires, infuriates with activism").

Yesterday's interview is not the first time Bishop has supported LGBT issues. The AP says that he backed a same-sex civil unions law in the region and was called to the Vatican two years ago to explain an outreach program he organized for gay youth.

He has also received death threats for his outspokenness.

UPDATES:  Over at Reddit, there has been some back and forth on whether Bishop Vera was insensitive in calling homophobia a "mental illness" from people who feel it unfairly groups people diagnosed with mental illness with people who hate gays.  I do not think the Bishop meant to disparage people diagnosed with mental illness but it did bring to mind a comment made by Mexican human rights advocate Ricardo Hernandez Forcada on Twitter:

Si fuera enfermedad, requeriría terapia y la homofobia no sería responsabilidad del sujeto http://t.co/f21maTG4ri
— Ricardo Hndz Forcada (@richforcada) August 20, 2013

"If it were an illness," Ricardo said, "it would require therapy and the subject would not be held responsible for his homophobia."

He later added "Homophobia is not an illness, it's a prejudice."

In the meantime, the influential and ultra-homophobic U.S.-based ACI Prensa who had a role in questioning the Bishop in year's past for his advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community is at it again in light of these new comments wondering whether the Vatican should even leave him in his post.  This time they take issue with the Bishop's comments that homosexuality might develop in a woman's womb.

REACTIONS:

• Mexican Bishop calls homophobia a "mental illness" (New Ways Ministry)

Mexican Supreme Court: Homophobic language is not covered under freedom of expression

In a landmark 3-2 ruling released after a session held today, the First Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court of Justice has determined that homophobic expressions such as "maricones" or "puñal" are not only offensive and discriminatory but also not protected under under freedom of expression laws.

The full text of the ruling will not be available until a later date but a press statement released by the Court states the following (my full translation):

In a session held on March 6th of the current year, the First Chamber of the nation's Supreme Court of Justice - at the request of Justice Arturo Zaldivar Lelo de Larrea - resolved an issue in which it analyzed the complex conflict between freedom of expression and discriminatory demonstrations - particularly homophobic expressions - a first for Mexican jurisprudence.

In finding a resolution for the Direct Appeal for Revision 2806/2012 (Amparo Directo en Revisión 2806/2012) the Chamber's starting point was the strong influence language has on people's perception of reality and which can cause prejudice that can take root in society through expressions which take for granted the marginalization of certain individuals or groups.  In this introductory stage, the Chamber also studied the role of dominant discourses and stereotypes. Thus, in the opinion of the Chamber, the language used to offend or disqualify certain groups gain the characteristic of being discriminatory.

In this sense, the First Chamber determined that homophobic expressions or - in other words the frequent allegations that homosexuality is not a valid option but an inferior condition - constitute discriminatory statements even if they are expressed jokingly, since they can be used to encourage, promote and justify intolerance against gays.

For this reason, the Chamber determined that the terms used in this specific case - made up of the words "maricones" and "puñal" - were offensive. These are expressions which are certainly deeply rooted in the language of Mexican society but the truth is that the practices of a majority of participants of a society cannot trump violations of basic rights.

In addition, the First Chamber determined that these expressions were irrelevant since their usage was not needed in resolving the dispute taking place as related to the mutual criticism between two journalists from Puebla. Therefore it was determined that the expressions "maricones" and "puñal", just as they were used in this specific case, were not protected by the Constitution.

It should be noted that the First Chamber does not hold that certain expressions which could be taken as having homophobic intent in abstract can never be validly used in scientific research or in artistic works. That does not, in itself, imply employing hate speech.

To conclude, it should be noted that this resolution is consistent with the various First Chamber rulings on freedom of expression and the right to one's honor since they set the parameters for the analysis of such rights. They are consistent in establishing that offensive and impertinent expressions are not protected by the Constitution and the current case offers and update.

The vote in this decision is as follows: 3 votes in favor (Ministers Pardo Rebolledo, Sánchez Cordero de García Villegas and Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea) and two votes against (Ministers Cossio Díaz and Gutiérrez Ortiz Mena).

UPDATE: Mexico's Milenio provides some background for the ruling.

In 2010 the owner of the Puebla newspaper Síntesis took the owner of rival publication Intolerancia to court and charged him for causing him "moral damage" (I am not a legal expert but I assume it's similar to accusing someone of defamation).

Intolerancia publisher Enrique Núñez Quiroz had written and published a column in which he referred to Síntesis publisher Armando Prida Huerta as a "puñal" (a slang term used in certain regions of Mexico akin to calling someone a fag) and in which he claimed all the people who worked for Síntesis were "maricones" (faggots).

Two lower courts ruled in favor of Prida and ordered Nuñez Quiroz to pay damages and, on appeal, the case reached the Supreme Court.

La Jornada indicates that the ruling might be limited to the use of homophobic expressions in media when the intent is to cause derogatory harm. Their interpretation of the ruling is that "the words maricón and puñal when used in a journalistic article constitute discriminatory terminology and are part of 'homophobic' discourse towards gay people."

Related:

• Mexico's top court: homophobic terms are libelous (Associated Press)
• Mexican Supreme Court rules anti-gay slurs are not protected speech (The Washington Blade)
• The Mexican Justice vetoes homophobic insults (El País)
• Freedom of expression does not protect homophobic expressions, says Court (CNN Mexico)
• The Mexican National Council to Prevent Discrimination celebrates Court decision determining homophobic expressions fall under hate speech (CONAPRED)

Reactions:

• Mexican Supreme Court Rules Anti-Gay Expressions Like 'Maricon' are Not Protected Under Freedom of Expression (Towleroad)
• Mexican Supreme Court Rules Homophobic Language Is Not Protected By Freedom Of Expression (Think Progress)
• Mexican Supreme Court: Homophobic Language Is Offensive & Discriminatory (Joe. My .God.)
• Mexico Rules Anti-Gay Slurs Are Not Protected Under Freedom Of Speech Laws (The Hufington Post)
• Mexican Supreme Court Rules That Anti-Gay Slurs Are Not Protected Speech (Instinct Magazine)
• Mexican Supreme Court Rules Anti-Gay Expressions Not Protected Speech (PQ Monthly)

Mexico lifts gay and bisexual blood donor ban

A little noticed Mexican health norm first approved in August and then published in the country's regulatory Official Federation Diary on October 26th has gone into effect today essentially doing away with a two-decade ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, reports Animal Político.

The old norm (NOM 003-SSA2) explicitly banned gay and bisexual men from donating blood based on their "practices" and their "increased probability of acquiring HIV or hepatitis infection".

The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in "risky sexual practices" regardless of their sexual identity.

In the new blood donor norms "risky sexual practices" are defined as those that may include "contact or exchange of blood, sexual secretions or other bodily secretions between someone who might have a transmittable disease and areas of another person's body through which an infectious agent might be able to penetrate."

The United States and a number of Latin American countries which include Argentina, Chile and Colombia have been mulling lifting similar longstanding bans that have been in effect since the HIV/AIDS crisis broke through decades ago.

If this report is correct, Mexico might be the first country in the American continent to lift such a ban.

UPDATE 1 (Dec. 26, 2012): The National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) has released a statement confirming these reports and saluting the new regulations as a step forward in eliminating discrimination.

In the statement, the governmental body applauds the move to base blood donor criteria on risk factors rather than on discriminatory perceptions about certain social groups. Here is a translated excerpt from the statement:

The previous NOM contained several explicitly discriminatory requirements that kept people from donating blood based on their sexual preference or orientation; instead, from now on, medical/scientific criteria will be used to identify pathogens in the blood and the focus will be turned to risky behaviors rather than social groups.

In making these discriminatory distinctions, the [previous] norm explicitly violated the prohibition against discrimination present in the Constitution and the Federal Law to Prevent and Eliminate Discrimination, as well as Article 24 of the American Convention on Human Rights and Article 26 of the International Civil and Political Rights Treaty, among other international instruments of law, which establish that every person is equal before the law regardless of any condition.

In closing, the agency vows to engage administrative and medical entities to make them aware of the new regulations and train them so that the new policy is promptly adopted in order to eradicate the stigma and discrimination contained in the previous norm.

UPDATE 2 (Dec. 28, 2012): GEN, an online site that focuses on genetic engineering and biotechnology, notes concerns raised by CONAPRED that a separate section of the new norm might still discriminate against a group of people. From GEN's article:

The previous NOM requirements explicitly excluded people who could donate blood based on sexual preferences or orientation or even social status, according to Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (Conapred), which also points out that despite this progress, there is still a degree of discrimination in the wording in the new NOM ruling. Specifically, subsection 6.10.6.1, Point J, excludes people on a temporary basis from donating blood "[who have] been hospitalized for more than 72 consecutive hours in penal or mental illness. The organization maintains that this subsection stigmatizes prison populations and people with mental disabilities.

Related:

• NOM 253 (Spanish)
• CONAPRED page here

Reactions:

• Mexican gay donor ban is lifted (Rod 2.0 Beta)
• Mexico lifting gay blood donation ban: Report (Huffington Post Gay Voices)
• Mexico lifts blood donation ban for gay and bisexual men (The Advocate)
• Mexican ban on gay, bisexual blood donors reportedly lifted (Xtra! Canada)
• Mexico lifts gay blood ban? (Joe.My.God.)
• Mexico lifts anti-gay blood ban: Report (Towleroad)

Mexican president Felipe Calderón in hot water over comment perceived as homophobic

While current Mexican president Felipe Calderón might have his hands full with the failing state he'll undeniably leave behind, he also leaves a homophobic legacy as the man who ordered his general attorney to challenge Mexico City's marriage equality law before the Mexican Constitutional Court --- and failed to get the Court to overturn the historic law.

Yesterday, at a government sponsored breast cancer awareness event, Calderón inadvertently stoked up his homophobic legacy by making a throw away comment that was quickly picked up online and turned into a widely shared Twitter hashtag.

At the event, President Calderón wore a pink ribbon.

Halfway through his speech, he made note of the ribbon and made sure the audience knew that the color pink symbolized breast cancer awareness and nothing else.

"No vaya a pensar otra cosa", he said with a sheepish smile (or "Don't go thinking it means something else" in English).

Picking up on those exact words, people on Twitter started using the #NoVayaApensarOtraCosa hashtag to make fun of Calderón's snide dismissal of all things pink and it quickly found traction and started spreading online.

By tonight it became clear that the Calderón camp knew it had a problem on their hands and that the "pink ribbon" issue threatened to overwhelm political discourse in the next few days.

President Calderón himself took to Twitter to apologize. Using the #NoVayaApensarOtraCosa hashtag himself, Calderón wrote "I reiterate my profound respect towards sexual diversity and my rejection against all discrimination".

In short, Calderón himself was acknowledging that the comment he made a day earlier had homophobic connotations.

As a Mexican friend wrote to me, the faux-pas wasn't necessarily something to lose sleep over, considering the hardships facing the Mexican government.  But the easy way in which the Mexican president seemed to engage in homophobic sentiment was not something that should have been easily dismissed either.

Snickers TV ad: Is it homophobic?

Mexico's National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) and the National Women's Institute (Inmujeres) have accused a Mexican ad agency working for U.S. giant Mars, Inc. of promoting homophobia, sexism and misogyny for a television ad promoting the Snickers chocolate bar brand.

In many ways the ad is similar to one of the most popular ads that ran during last year's Super Bowl in the United States, with a couple of major differences.

In the U.S. version you see a number of friends playing touch football when out of nowhere actress Betty White goes for the ball and gets tackled. This is the exchange that follows:

Guy #1: Mike, what is your deal man!
Betty White: Oh, man, you've been riding me all day!
Guy #3: Mike, you are playing like Betty White out there!
Betty White: That's not what your girlfriend says!

Someone hands Betty White a Snickers bar and, after taking a bite, it becomes clear she'd been a guy called Mike all along. "You are not you when you are hungry" reads the tag line at the end.

In the Mexican version of the ad, pop singer Anahi takes Betty White's role.  Here is my translation of the similar exchange that follows Anahi falling down from a bike:

Guy #1: What's your deal, Carlos!
Anahi: Stop getting in my way!
Guy #3: Every time you get hungry you turn into a sissy.
Anahi: That's not what your girlfriend says!

And here is the actual ad:

In addition to adding Anahi, there is also the matter of one of the lines that was changed for the Mexican version: "Every time you get hungry you turn into a sissy."

In a joint statement released by CONAPRED and Inmujeres on September 12th, the government bodies say they received complaints about the ad and tried to reach the Effem Mexico ad agency to request the ads be removed and specifically call it misogynist, sexist and homophobic.

The ad agency has so far refused to remove the ads from the air arguing that they tested the ads with a number of women before the launch, none of whom thought it was discriminatory, and that versions of the ad have also ran in 15 different countries without anyone raising any concerns.

CONAPRED and Inmujeres argue that none of the women in the test screenings were experts on the issue and that the agency should have reached out to such experts before airing the ad.

On September 20th, an anonymous source at U.S. Mars headquarters spoke to Milenio and said that Mars would go to the Mexican courts, if needed, to prevent the ad from being removed from airing on Mexican television.

"It's something that took us by surprise, since the campaign was launched in October [of 2010]" said the surprisingly unnamed Mars representative who is only referred to as "a director of the business agency".

Pop music star Anahi also came to Mars' defense telling TV Notas that there was nothing sexist about the ad and that it is simply based on her reputation as being a troublemaker.

She stretched her defense a tad much by arguing that the line "you turn into a sissy" was meant to refer to a character she played in the successful soap opera that launched her career --- and not necessarily an insult.

Ismael Flores, writing for one of my favorite Mexican blogs Vivir Mexico agrees with CONAPRED and Inmujeres. In an essay published on September 19th, he writes:

In middle school we all had a call to battle: "The last to arrive is a girl!" Then, as we went on to high school, the word "girl" turned into "fag".  In college, when it began to matter conquering an improvised career, the phrase turned into "you turn into a sissy". And that's that's the way it has been with our language, changing from time to time, but staying true to its essence: The feminine as an insult, as something degrading, as an instrument of discrimination.  Hence, there is nothing bizarre about CONAPRED's complaint.

Wenceslao Bruciaga, who has a blog at Milenio in which he often documents gay life in Mexico, has a different take:

According to CONAPRED, the sequence of images [in the ad] "reaffirms the framework of the inequality between men and women... and highlight the erroneous and discriminatory social perception against girls and women as persons who may assume the masculine domain as being normal."

Every time I listen to commentary such as this I get mixed emotions: I bust out laughing or get a knot in my stomach.  It's similar to when I am asked to comment on my opinion or position regarding the usage of words such as 'puto', 'joto', 'maricón' [all can be translated as 'fag']. What am I expected to say? That it's discriminatory language? What about 'estupida' and 'babosa' [akin to using 'gurrl'], words used between gay men to communicate in the most intimate of circles... is it politically correct? Aren't they promoting the wrong common perception of women?  Should we tell them to behave more like men? Sorry, I'm probably promoting the most retrograde of machismos.

The vicious circle of what's politically correct.

Bruciaga closes his essay by noting that while CONAPRED is going after the ad agency that handles the Mars contract in Mexico, in part, because of homophobia, they failed to follow up on hundreds complaints of homophobia against Mexican morning talk-show host Esteban Arce.

Arce famously went live on air on December 18th of 2010 and questioned whether homosexuality was 'natural', said he was afraid young men who were drug users were susceptible to 'letting themselves go' into homosexuality and, when told by a guest on the show that homosexuality was prevalent in animals, Arce argued that male dogs who mated with other male dogs probably suffered from 'animal dementia' or been forced to go without sex for a long time.

Arce remains on Mexican television with his show "Matutino Express", which - wouldn't you know it! - recently began airing on U.S. television through Spanish-language network Galavisión. As recently as September 5th, there he was telling AOL Latino he hoped to bring his "moral and religious values" to American television.

So what do you think? Are CONAPRED and Inmujeres right to slam Effem Mexico and Mars, Inc. over the ad as Ismael says? Or is this a case of political correctness gone a muck as Wenceslao argues? I'll let you be the judge.

UPDATE: In the original version of this post I translated 'nena' literally as 'little girl'. A Mexican reader tells me that a more appropriate translation is 'sissy', which somewhat explains the homophobic claims.

RELATED:

• Snickers Mexico website here

Year in Review, pt. 2: Wedded bliss in Mexico City, TG blood on Peruvian Flag, Lisa M. comes out

Continuing a look at the Blabbeando year in review:

Wedded bliss in Mexico City: In March, a marriage equality law approved by the Mexico City legislature in December finally went into effect, making it the first region in all of Latin America to allow same-sex couples to marry.

The law would survive a constitutional challenge filed at the behest of Mexican president Felipe Calderón when the country's Supreme Court ruled in August that it was constitutionally solid. The court would also rule that granting adoption rights to same-sex couples was constitutional and that all Mexican states were required to legally recognize any and all same-sex marriages recognized by the Mexico City (not all states are happy about it).

In October, La Jornada reported 417 same-sex couples had married in Mexico since the law went into effect.

Washing trans blood from the Peruvian flag: In March, I also wrote about an unusual transgender rights protest in the northern Peruvian city of Tumbes in which, in front of cameras, participants called for the church and state to stop discriminating against them and urged those in power to create  a better employment environment for them. What made the protest unusual and striking was that the women pulled out a Peruvian flag they said had been stained with their blood and, using a bucket of water and soap, they proceeded to wash the flag to call attention to all the hate crimes committed against the transgender community throughout Peru.

Hiram, a friend no more: Locally, disgraced former New York City Councilmember and New York State Senator Hiram Monserrate lost a last-ditch attempt at remaining in politics by embracing homophobia. Once a marriage equality ally, Monserrate was one of the few Democratic State Senators who a marriage equality bill and helped to sink it.  To think I once called Hiram a personal friend.

Ricky: Oh, and Ricky Martin came out.

A Cardinal talks, the authorities follow: In April, I wrote about Cardinal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodriguez of the Dominican Republic and his latest pet peeve: The public behavior he'd observed at Duarte Park, a popular public gathering spot for members of the LGBT community of Santo Domingo.  Aparently, he used a Sunday sermon to blast the "abhorrent" behavior he'd seen.  His work carries power and, for the next week, local media parroted his calls for authorities to clean up the park.  Within days the police department was telling media that they had linked illicit drug sales in the park to a group of homosexuals and giving a vow to shut down any park vendor activity that attempted against "morals and good behavior." It's a sign of how much sway the Cardinal holds over the local authorities. Scary for a man of the cloth who has been known to describe gays as "faggots".



KFC turns men gay: Bolivian president Evo Morales momentarily became the world's laughing stock - and torpedoed any serious coverage of an important international environmental conference being held in his country - when he used his key note address to argue, among other things, that feminine hormones injected into chicken from non-organic farms could cause "deviations in a man's being".

How that could be interpreted as anything but saying eating non-organic chicken could make some men gay escapes me, but the Bolivian government's defense later argued that Morales had said no such thing - and that the charge of homophobia had been a ploy by imperialists nations to overshadow coverage of the environmental summit.

Local Bolivian LGBT organizations begged to differ and sent a letter asking for clarification.  The government responded by saying the wished to affirm their support for the LGBT community in Bolivia --- and stating, once again, that Morales "under no circumstance" had been referring to homosexuality in his speech. Watch the video and see if you agree.

Bad, bad, Vatican: Also in April, responding to a call for action by the International LGBTI Association (ILGA), advocates in Venezuela,  Argentina and Peru held rallies against the Vatican to reject links the Vatican hierarchy were making between pedophilia and homosexuality.

Soccer players in love: I also found what must be one of the hottest gay scenes to play in a Latin America telenovela.  It's from "Botineras" and, in it, two men who play soccer players and have fallen in love have sex for the first time. Doing some follow-up, I also found scenes from a shoot one of the actors - who says he's straight - did for a gay webportal. Meet Cristian Sancho.



Hey ladies! Oh, and Puerto Rican salsa/reggaeton singer Lisa M. came out (it's a video from VEVO, which means it might not be available to watch in your region).

Year in Review, pt. 1: Esteban Arce keeps his job, the man formerly known as Luke Sissyfag riles NOM's nerves...

I don't think I've ever done one these before. It doesn't mean I can't do one. So there.

January: Mexican television show host Esteban Arce got himself into trouble early this year when a clip of a show he did in December was posted on YouTube and went viral on Twitter earlier this year.  The reason?  Elsie Reyes, a well-known "sexologist" and author of a well known syndicated relationship advice column, had been invited to the show to discuss the topic of 'sexual orientation'.  It all runs pretty smoothly at first until Arce repeatedly demands to know if homosexuality is "normal" or "natural".  When he doesn't get the answers he wants, the interview quickly goes downhill.

The furor elicited by the clip on Twitter was like nothing I'd seen before in Latin America when it comes homophobia in media which, to be sincere, surprised me considering that it was not the first time something like this had been aired on Mexican television.  The clip even had its own hashtag on Twitter promoted by people who were calling for Arce's ouster from the airwaves (#EstebanArceFueraDelAire). And mainstream Mexican media, facing a slow news period in January, ran with the story for days on end.

Arce and his show were suspended for a few days by the Televisa network but was back on the air a month later. Top Mexican newspaper Milenio calls it one of the top 10 TV moments of the year and takes Televisa to task for doing nothing.

February: Valentine's Day brought same-sex kiss-in demonstrations and equal partnership rights rallies in Peru, Argentina, Chile and Mexico. Expect similar demos come February of 2011.

Oh, and there was a big fire two blocks away from my apartment building.

Also in February: Luke Montgomery (formerly known as Luke Sissyfag) and his boyfriend Nate Guidas launched Cause Commandos to raise funds to help survivors of the massive January 12th earthquake that hit Haiti.

Although I haven't specifically written about it, Luke has been in the news again recently as the mind behind the FCKH8 campaign (that's him giving people the finger in the site's webpage).

I've been promoting their 2011 calendar (STR8 AGAINST H8) on my blog this month but this week this particular video drew the ire of homophobic bigots (OH.MY.GOD. I haven't done this many hyperlinks since I began the blog when I naively thought being hyperlink crazy was the way to go!).

Anyway, blooper reel!!

Next up: Latino pop singers come out of the closet, my friend Hiram, soccer players in love and how eating chicken can turn men gay...

Equality California stands up for marriage equality in Mexico

Photo: Geoff Kors, Executive Director of Equality California, at a global LGBT justice conference hosted by the UCLA School of Law's Williams Institute on March of 2009 (courtesy of yours truly).

Back in March, Equality California, the largest LGBT rights organization in California, released a statement congratulating the first same-sex couples who took advantage of Latin America's first marriage equality law and decided to get hitched.

That - in some ways - was easy for Equality California to do. It came after the fact, it sounded really pretty, and it probably endeared Equality California to many a Latino guy or gal who read about it.

Then came a local 18-1 vote to ban recognition of same-sex marriages in Baja California in late September.  I wrote about it earlier this month and shared some video of the proceedings...



On the surface, the vote was a slap against the Mexican Supreme Court which ruled in August that all same-sex marriages conducted in Mexico City were constitutionally valid and had to be recognized across the nation as such. In fact, if the Baja California vote becomes law, it will probably head to the top jury of the land  - and probably declared unconstitutional.

In the meantime, though, the Baja California vote has to be ratified by 3 of the 5 municipalities represented by the regional deputies who voted to slam marriage equality and that has yet to take place.

Rex Wockner, who has been doing an amazing job following the story, writes:

Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors has joined calls for municipal councils in Mexico's Baja California state to reject a state constitutional amendment that seemingly bans recognition of same-sex marriages.

Meanwhile, local LGBT activists are organizing marches on Oct. 16 in the U.S. border city of Mexicali, the Baja state capital, and on Oct. 24 in the border city of Tecate

As for Equality California, here is the statement provided by their Executive Director, Geoff Kors, to Rex:

It is extremely disappointing that there is an effort to amend the state constitution to not allow or recognize same-sex marriages in Baja California. Mexico's Supreme Court has upheld marriage for same-sex couples and further required that legal same-sex marriages from Mexico City be recognized throughout the nation. We call on the municipal councils in Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito Beach, Tecate and Tijuana to reject this discriminatory effort by voting against ratification of the constitutional amendment -- and to go on the record in support of marriage equality for same-sex couples.

It might have been easy to send out a congratulatory message to same-sex couples in Mexico City back in March, but to step in and proactively state an opinion in light of imminent passage of a homophobic piece of legislation in one of the states in Mexico is unparalleled for a major LGBT rights organization in the United States.

For that, I applaud Geoff Kors and Equality California and say 'thank you'.

Related:

• Baja California gays, advocates to rally against marriage ban (¡TURISTA LIBRE BLOG!)

Mexico: Constitution? What constitution? We won't let gays marry in Baja California

Last Wednesday, Sept. 29, by an overwhelming vote of 18-1, the Chamber of Deputies of the Mexican state of Baja California decided to send a message to the country's Supreme Court by voting for a statewide constitutional amendment banning the recognition of marriages between same-sex couples.

From my friend Rex Wockner's reporting (read his entire report here):

Same-sex marriage is legal in Mexico City, and the nation's Supreme Court ruled this year that all 31 Mexican states must recognize gay marriages from the capital city.

As a result, the state legislature's move could set it on a collision course with the federal Supreme Court, although some amendment backers claimed they only want to prevent gay marriages from taking place in Baja.

It's not a done deal.  Again, from Rex:

To be valid, the amendment has to be ratified by the city councils of three of Baja California's five municipalities -- Ensenada, Mexicali, Rosarito Beach, Tecate and Tijuana. Any municipality that fails to report the result of its vote within a month of receiving the amendment will be counted as having approved it. (All towns and areas of Baja California are within one of the five municipalities, which are somewhat similar to U.S. counties.)

In the meantime, my friend and Mexican human rights advocate Gabriel Gutierrez sent me a link to an 11 minute video of the day when the actual vote took place.  In it, you can see that it was a standing room only event packed with LGBT rights advocates and marriage equality rights opponents vying for space.



I won't be translating this one but you have to have heart to the LGBT advocates standing in the room as only one of seventeen of their representatives stood up for them.

At the 8:03 mark in the video, after the vote has been taken, an unidentified man in white reacts in anger to the overwhelming opposition to his rights:

Rapists! We are also citizens and we pay taxes... ridiculous moralists!... None of you want to adopt anyone, children are dying of hunger and we want to help them. And you come here with your pedophile priests leading you. Trash is what you are! Double morality! Your husbands are with the prostitutes and you are just being ridicule here! Where are your marriages? Where? You have children dying of hunger and you just vouch for your priests! But you come here and say that marriages are between a man and a woman. We are also worthy!... We are human beings just like you!

Click here for a 2nd video taken at the meeting.

Keep your eye out for updates...

Miss Universe 2010 backs marriage equality for same-sex couples

What a day! First Fidel Castro owns up to the persecution of gays in Cuba while the island was under his command, and then this monumental story...

OK, I am kidding but this is sorta newsworthy.

While watching Miss Universe a few days ago (yup, I watched the actual pageant when it was broadcast back on August 22nd), it quickly became obvious that Miss Mexico - Jimena Navarrete - would take the crown this year.

And yet, when she answered her Top 5 finalist question on the effect of unsupervised internet use by minors and she said that it was important to teach kids "values" as taught "in the family" I cringed a little bit.  Not that it's bad to teach kids family values, but I wondered if she was simply parroting the "family value" rhetoric of the religious right in Mexico and elsewhere.

That, apparently, is not the case.

Interviewed yesterday on Mexican radio, here is what she said:

Salvador Camarena (W Radio): I want to ask you about a topic that has been very controversial and it's the topic of marriage between people of the same gender. Do you agree with this type of relationships...

Jimena Navarrete: Look, I believe that every person in this world has the right to profess the beliefs they have and I am in agreement. We have to respect what each human being decides to do with their lives, you know? Clearly, there are limitations, of course, also, as there are with heterosexual couples, right? Better said, there are limitations for any of the two - if they are heterosexual or homosexual - but I believe we have to learn to be respectful because they are people who are the same as us. There is no difference. And I don't believe it's just to discriminate somebody based on the gender they prefer, right? Based on the partner they choose to select, if it's a man or a woman. The truth is that I am absolutely against discrimination and, well, what can I say. I have many friends who are homosexual and I adore them. And they are equal folk: There is no reason we should want to set them aside, there is no reason why we shouldn't let them enjoy what they want to enjoy with their partner.

I've posted a link to the audio clip, in Spanish, below. The remarks on marriage start at the 4:50 minute mark...

Viva Miss Mexico! Viva Miss Universe 2010

Mexican Supreme Court: Mexico City's marriage equality law is constitutional

Still on a high from yesterday's historic federal court ruling knocking down Proposition 8 in California?  Well, get a load of this:

The Mexican Supreme Court of Justice has been holding hearings this week on the constitutionality of Mexico City's groundbreaking marriage equality law which was adopted by the city on December 21st, 2009.

The law, the first of its kind in all of Latin America, not only granted gay couples in Mexico City the right to marry but also explicitly said that gay couples could adopt children (previously gay individuals were allowed to adopt but, if they had a partner, that partner could not file for parenthood rights).

Upon passage of the law, Mexican president Felipe Calderón stated that the constitution only allowed marriages "between a man and a woman" and had his attorney general file an appeal before the Supreme Court.

Guess what!  Earlier today the Mexican Supreme Court ruled by a vote of 8-2 that Mexico City's marriage equality law is indeed constitutional ("Mexican court upholds capital's gay marriage law", AP). Suck it, Calderón!

Echoing California federal court judge Vaugh R. Walker in ruling that Proposition 8 was unconstitutional, Milenio reports that, in backing the law, Justice Fernando Franco stated the following:

Procreation is not an essential element of marriage nor does it threaten the protection the Constitution grants to the family and procreation, since those who want to conceive, have the full capacity of doing it.

The court had previously said that they would also take up the part of the law that grants adoption rights for gay couples as a separate debate.  To that effect, the court will convene once again this Monday to discuss whether that part of the law is constitutional.  They will also be debating whether the court's ruling has any reach beyond Mexico City.

Not all LGBT-rights advocates were happy with the marriage equality law approved in December by the legislature. Federal Deputy Enoé Uranga, an openly lesbian legislator who spearheaded a civil union bill in 2001 which was passed in 2006, warned that the law had been rushed through the legislature with not enough time for public debate.  She argued that the law reflected political interests rather than serve the needs of LGBT families and warned that making adoption rights explicit within the law might have unintended consequences should the Supreme Court decide to ban them.  As of late, though, and now that the Supreme Court is holding hearings and deciding on the constitutionality of the law, Uranga has been busy trying to draw expert witnesses and testimony for the court to consider backing adoption rights for gays.

Some observers are just as concerned the court won't be nearly as progressive on adoption as it was today on marriage equality but Mexico City Councilmember David Razú (pictured above), the author and lead sponsor of the bill which became law, is absolutely certain the Court will back adoption rights as well, according to my conversations with him on Twitter.

In the meantime, the United Nation's Deputy High Commissioner Kyung-wha Kang, visiting Mexico for an international conference on women's rights, told CNN Mexico that marriage was a right everyone should have access to, including same-sex partners.  CNN doesn't quote her directly but says that the UN Commissioner also backed adoption rights for same-sex couples "although the decision should be taken carefully in each particular case" and said that the United Nations had always been in favor of citizens having full access to human rights regardless of their sexual orientation.

As for marriages between same-sex couples that have taken place since the law was passed six months ago? NotieSe reports that 320 same-sex marriage couples have gotten married, 173 between men and 147 between women.  27 foreigners have married Mexican citizens including people who were born in Rumania, Austria, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, England, the United States, Canada, Panama, Guatemala, Venezuela and Colombia.

Carlos Monsivais: What an outing!

Journalist Daniel Hernandez, who blogs at Intersections and writes for Los Angeles Times, writes about the passing of one of Mexico's literary lions, Carlos Monsivais, who died on Saturday at the age of 72.  From his post:

He was known as Mexico's finest chronicler, its "last public intellectual," its "conscience," and as the only literary figure around who was said to be recognized by regular folks on the street. With the death on Saturday of Carlos Monsivais, Mexico lost a voice that for nearly 50 years was considered unrivaled in his ability to cut to the core of the issues and personalities of his day.

Mourners, from high-profile politicians to everyday workers, swarmed the writer's casket at two public wakes over the weekend. People waved, cheered and chanted for the man millions knew simply as "Monsi."

Monsivais was a journalist, a critic, a cinephile, a collector of historical and pop ephemera (which led eventually to the founding of a museum) and a tireless activist for minority rights and the political left. In hundreds of articles and columns, more than two dozen books, countless appearances on television and radio, at conferences and demonstrations, Monsivais represented for many Mexicans an enormously erudite man of letters who never lost touch with ordinary people, or with the tragicomic nature of life here.

I have to say I didn't know much about Monsivais, other than he was an ardent defender of LGBT rights in Mexico and that some of his published pieces on the subject were seen as influential on moving a number of cultural and political leaders to support marriage equality rights in Mexico City.  I also assumed he was gay...

Well, he was... but apparently not too willing to talk about it. Again, from Daniel's piece for Los Angeles Times:

Monsivais was also active in various gay rights issues and wrote on related topics such as homophobia. His own sexuality, however, was not something he commented on.

"Many of the achievements we have today are thanks to him, the work he did," said Lina Perez Cerqueda, director of a gay rights organization, referring to the legalization of gay marriage in Mexico City and similar measures. "I think Carlos was beyond [labels]. It was nothing he hid, and it was not something he announced. He was Carlos."

That was the clear sentiment online Saturday night on Twitter as hundreds came to pay their respects at a last-minute wake, including Marcelo Ebrad, the Mayor of Mexico City.  The ceremony was broadcast live by some Mexican networks and on online feeds.

From this vantagepoint, it was a mix of the emotional and the gaudy, of pure sentiment and outright cheesiness. Or perhaps I am not used to Mexican wakes?  That five minute stretch of people applauding as some looked around confused as whether they should stop? Awkward!  The gay guy playing a flute as others looked uncomfortable around him? Spare me the flute melodies when I die.

But it was something else that gay guy did that actually made me gasp.  Right during the live webcast of the ceremony, two guys dressed in black were shown talking to a woman. They unfurled a rainbow gay pride flag and, after getting a go-ahead from the woman, one of them walked over to the coffin and laid the flag on top of it.  For a few minutes the rainbow flag laid there, on its own, as television commentators tried to make sense of it. Ah! His support for LGBT rights! They said.  Youl could still feel a palpable uneasiness about that multi-colored rainbow flag draping that coffin right at the center of a multitude of people dressed in black.

I Tweeted "What was that? An attempt to reclaim Monsivais for the LGBT community?" And it was!

Today, Mexican LGBT news site Anodis caught up to gay flautist Horacio Franco (pictured in the black shirt, crossed arms, to the left), who is described as a friend of Monsivais. He was also the man who placed the flag on the coffin.

Asked about about Monsivais' homosexuality, Franco said "it was never made public, but everyone knew about it."

Damn! Outed right before burial! I'm not sure how I feel about it.  On the one hand, there is a long history of left wing leaders and figures who were gay but never acknowledged it while alive. I mean, when it mattered. That is, when Fidel Castro was sending gays to forced labor camps.  On the other, Monsivais was a forceful advocate for LGBT rights even as he seemed less than willing to discuss his own sexuality.

As I looked at the live broadcast of the wake, I wasn't the only one who noticed all the photos of Monsivais and his loved cats. He was said to love his cats so much that he kept them despite doctors telling him that their presence in the house would worsen the lung ailment that eventually killed him. But, as I looked at all those pictures, I also wondered if there hadn't been any men in his life whose photos he would have liked to grace the halls of his wake. Yes, that was his chose in life and perhaps that choice was violated at the wake. But I couldn't help to feel sadness that such a man lived and died in the closet.

UPDATE: I always admit that I am not the best writer out there.   Sometimes I reread a post and cringe a bit at what I wrote and something about this post makes me do that.  It comes out as too light a take on the issue of outing someone who never said he was gay publicly and yet did great things for the LGBT community.  BUT I do know that I have good instincts for sniffing out interesting stories nobody else is writing about here in the United States.  And sometimes someone takes a look at what I wrote and spins off on my thoughts. That was the case with Lorenzo Herrera y Lozano's take on my post after Ricky Martin came out ("Why Ricky Martin Matters") and it is the case now with Anahi Parra at Macha Mexico.  She has written the post I was hoping to write on the outing of Monsivais so please jump over to...

• Lo que se ve no se pregunta (Macha Mexico, June 20th, 2010) - btw, it's an English language post for those of you who do not understand Spanish.

Some "Bad Romance", Mexico style

While you kiddies breathlessly await tomorrow's premiere of Lady Gaga's "Alejandro" video, here is something to tide you over (blame Twitter for me knowing that tomorrow is the "Alejandro" premiere).

The summer pride season got started this weekend with Brazil leading the way. Yeah, 3.5 million people, drag queens galore, rainbow flags everywhere. Ho-hum. Same as last year.

Wait. 3.5 million people? OMG. That's a lot of folks!

But Monterrey, Mexico, just kicked all of them Brazilian asses and did their own thingie over the weekend, plus or minus 3 million people.

Some background: LGBT activists and advocates in Mexico had spent years asking the federal government to recognize May 17th as the official day against homophobia and transphobia but when the government finally acceded to their demands this year, gone was any mention of 'homophobia' or 'transphobia'. Instead, president Felipe Calderón's government announced official recognition of May 17th as the "National Day of Tolerance and Respect towards Preferences".

Activists were, understandably, enraged. My friend, Gabriel Gutiérrez García, resigned as the designated ambassador against discrimination at the National Council to Prevent Discrimination. Others assailed the inability of the Mexican government to mention the words 'homophobia' and 'transphobia'. 

Save us, Lady Gaga!:  So where do the Mexican gaygays go? Of course! They go Gaga! As Milenio reports, a few show troopers showed up yesterday in front of the Plaza of Heroes in Monterrey, Mexico, and surprised passers-by with a choreographed performance of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" as criticism of the government's posture (they performed the whole routine in front of the Monterrey Government Palace, which is located in the Plaza).



El Universal, which counted 300 participants at the event, reported they were also trying to draw attention to more than 60 hate crimes committed against the LGBT community in Monterrey in recent years.

And this wasn't even Monterray's gay pride! That will happen this weekend but I doubt it will get nearly the attention the Lady Gaga stunt will get.

Meantime, in Brazil, President Luiz Ignácio Lula da Silva didn't go the mamby pamby way! Today he announced that Brazil, unlike Mexico, would specifically observe an annual Day Against Homophobia.

UPDATE: Here is the 'official' video  of the action as posted by those who organized it...

Paquita La Del Barrio's US tour and her thoughts on Ricky Martin

No, that's not Paquita La Del Barrio in the video. It's takopez28 on Youtube interpreting one of the Mexican legend's newest singles, "Chiquito" ["Tiny"]. Lyrics:

Now that I spent time with you / poor vain little macho / I already saw you in underwear and was able to discover
that in reality you have nothing / but nothing of nothing / nothing to boast about
now that you can tell me / if what my eyes saw / it only made me laugh
I expected a couple of arms / muscular and strong / and they ended up being tiny bones
I expected such a strong body / just like that of an endowed athlete's / and it ended up being like a chicken's tiny neck
You have a tiny foot / you have tiny eyes / you have a tiny heel / in the end, everything tiny!
Are you listening to me, worthless man? / Nature was so ungrateful with you! ...and it goes from there.

With lyrics like that you might understand why Paquita La Del Barrio's songs were and are so popular at Latino gay bars and among Latino drag-queen performers.

But among English-speaking gays in the United States, her name might not be recognized for her songs but, instead, for saying back in March she preferred if a child died rather than see a gay couple adopt the orphan even if she was OK with gays getting married (video).

As you would expect, her comments briefly lit up the gay blogospehere here in the United States as well as the gossip shows on Spanish-language television.  Drag queens from the Atlantis gay bar in Queens, New York, even took off their Paquita wigs and trampled on them, refusing to ever sing another Paquita song.


Within days, Paquita announced that she would perform and appear at a gay bar in Mexico owned by one of her personal friends and would hold a press conference to apologize to her gay fans.  That apology amounted to the singer reiterating her love for her gay fans, a statement that she never meant to hurt them, comments that she'd been so hurt by the outrage she'd thought about committing suicide, but not a word about taking back what she said about preferring that children die rather than they be adopted by gays (in another interview she simply said that it's what she was brought up to believe).

As scandals do, I'm not sure the "apology" did anything to change anyone's mind about her initial comments, but it quickly receded from media.  The latest flare-up was on May 5th when Paquita appeared on Azteca America and begged media to leave her alone.

New United States tour: I was surprised, though, when I found out on that same date that Paquita would be embarking in a new mini-tour through the United States along with Mexican singer Jenni Rivera, another darling of Latino gay bars in the United States and, as far as I can tell, pretty gay friendly as well.

It's not a huge tour, but singers like Paquita do depend on income they can get from venues in the United States.  It actually got underway last night at Hidalgo Texas, and hits another six venues through June 26th (San Antonio, El Paso and Houston in Texas, Rosemont in Illinois and Denver in Colorado).

Ricky Martin: Of course, between Paquita's initial comments about gays adopting children, someone famously known for adopting two kids on his own, has come out as being gay. I'm talking, of course, about Ricky Martin.  And, considering she has yet to directly apologize for her comments on adoption, you might think Paquita would want Ricky Martin's sons dead.

Well, you'd be wrong. Maybe.

She doesn't say so directly but it turns out Paquita is glad Ricky Martin came out. And I am quoting:

Thank God Ricky Martin came out of the closet, if that makes him happier, since people should seek what gives peace to their soul. Perhaps he felt there was something to feel ashamed about, although, in reality, he should not have felt badly. I've said it, people have to try to be happy and be at peace. That's what I try to do with my music.

Hm, OK. that quote still comes across as uncomfortable when it comes to gay issues but is it a step in the right direction?  As for her comments about adoption, she still continues to use one of her previous excuses: That it was a bad gossip journalist who ambushed her and that she was caught "unprepared". Uh-huh. It had nothing to do with the connection between her brain's synapses and her mouth at all.

Still a long way to go, Paquita. A long way to go.

Mexico City: 88 same-sex couples have married in the month since marriage equality went into effect

Since March 11th, 2010, the day on which same-sex couples were finally allowed to marry in Mexico City, the city's Civil Registry Office has received 125 marriage license petitions from same-sex partners and granted 88 marriages, according to city officials.

Today's El Universal, which reports on the official numbers today, says that, of the 88 marriages, 50 have been between male couples and 38 have been between women. Age-wise, of the 176 individuals who have gotten married, seventy-two have ranged between the ages 31 and 40 and forty-five have been between 21 and 30.  Only twelve individuals fell in the 18 to 20 range [that doesn't quite ad up to 176 so I guess the rest - forty-seven individuals - might fall into the 41 and older range]. In five cases, one of the partners was born in a different country (including two Italians, two French and one British person). 

There are 37 marriages between same-sex couples pending for the months of April, May and June.

• The official statement from the government office of Mexico City can be found here (Warning: Loud audio clip plays upon opening page).

Update: The Associated Press is all over the story and so is Andy.

Watch: Same-sex couples get married in Mexico City

The Mexican newspaper Milenio has produced a 4 minute video capturing the sights and sounds last Thursday as five same-sex couples became the first ones to marry in Mexico City. I won't be translating this one but I wanted to share.

Mexico: As gays prepare to marry in Mexico City, Jalisco queers act-up for their rights

On December 21st Mexico City's legislative Assembly made history when it passed a law allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. The law, which goes into effect on March 4th, became the first such measure to be adopted in all of Latin America.

Surprisingly, in the days that followed the vote, there was actually little visible reaction from any of the regular anti-gay forces in the country. Instead, as the new year began, a Twitter-led media frenzy erupted over homophobic comments made by a Mexican television morning show host named Esteban Arce.

Now, a week before the law goes into effect, the opposition has certainly raised its ugly head and come out in full force.

On January 27th, Mexico's Attorney General filed an appeal before the country's Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the law. Last week six governors from the conservative PAN party also raised constitutional appeals claiming that the law might spread to other regions in the country. And - somewhat surprisingly - Mexico's president Felipe Calderón - also from the PAN party - stepped in and honed his conservative re-election bonafides by siding with anti-gay forces and stating his opposition to the law.

Patrick Corcoran, a freelance writer based in Mexico who blogs at Gancho, has a great breakdown of the partisan politics at play in an essay he wrote for Mexidata, and I quote:

Despite a lengthy to-do list that represents Mexican President Felipe Calderón's last gasp for an enduring legislative legacy, the president and his party have diverted their recent efforts toward a push to ban same-sex marriage.

The change of focus stems from a December law passed by the left-leaning Mexico City government legalizing same-sex marriage and providing gay couples with an avenue to adoption. Gay rights in general and same-sex marriage in particular had not been particularly divisive issues in Mexico, but the new law, which was the first of its kind in Latin America (the northern state of Coahuila did, however, legalize same-sex unions in 2007, though without the adoption provision) provoked a storm of controversy.

Even before the new law was official, the Mexico City PAN (National Action Party) was promising a legal challenge. Church officials, predictably, were apoplectic (although interestingly the Vatican conspicuously kept its distance). Opponents of same-sex marriage found a sympathetic ear in Los Pinos; Calderón is said to be personally close to Mariana Gómez, the PAN's most visible opponent of same-sex marriage, and in late January, his attorney general Arturo Chávez Chávez filed a challenge of the law before the Supreme Court. Five more states, all run by PAN governors, joined the fray last week, challenging the law on the grounds that it unfairly obliges them to recognize the capital's marriages.

Since Mexico City is light years to the left of much of the rest of the country, the backlash could undermine gay rights more than the Mexico City law advanced them. The Supreme Court could strike down the Mexico City law, rendering same-sex marriage illegal across the nation. Even if the Court refrains from doing so (which seems likely, given the court’s recent leftward tilt, its endorsement of Mexico City’s abortion legalization, and the flimsiness of the legal arguments), a series of statewide bans of same-sex marriage seem quite likely. This pattern, a progressive law in Mexico City sparking a harsh conservative reaction virtually everywhere else, was established over the past couple of years in the realm of abortion.

But even if the PAN’s strategy does bear fruit, this is a bad policy and ultimately a bad political move for the PAN... [read the rest of the essay here]

The good news this week: The Mexican Supreme Court has dismissed all six appeals from the governors of Sonora, Tlaxcala, Guanajuato, Morelos, Jalisco and Baja California.

Additionally, President Felipe Calderón, when asked yesterday to share his thoughts on the law once again, refused to reaffirm his opposition, simply referring to the one appeal against the measure that is still standing before the court: That of the Attorney General's Office.

"I will abstain from giving an opinion which might be interpreted as as if the President might be trying to introduce a belief, an opinion, a value that is different than the law", Calderón said.

He added that it was a delicate debate and argued that he respected every single person. "I absolutely do not have any bad taste nor reproach towards those who have a partnership with another of the same gender," he said, "I respect - I absolutely insist - such preferences".

David Razú Aznar, the President of the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City's Legislative Assembly, Tweeted this morning that this could be a signal that Calderón knows he is on the losing end of the debate. Aznar was among a team of lawyers and government officials who handed a report to the Supreme Court yesterday in which the City vouched for the constitutionality of the marriage equality law (you can download the complete report, written in Spanish, here).

Jalisco queers act-up: As good as it looks for marriage equality supporters in Mexico right now, what has been the most inspiring to see is how the LGBT community has reacted to efforts to sink the law. Mexico doesn't really have a national LGBT-rights organization that can act as a centralized force against these homophobic efforts. Instead, there is a large patchwork network of small local LGBT rights advocates and organizations that mostly work independently from each other. And, despite the fact that the law in question will only cover couples within the Mexico City district, it seems that LGBT folk throughout the country are rising up against efforts to derail it, particularly in Guadalajara, the state capital of Jalisco.

I already wrote about a march that took place in Guadalajara on Valentine's Day which drew more than 350 people and ended in a town square with kiss-ins and symbolic marriage ceremonies (Milenio has a full description here).

A week later, riding approximately 12 vehicles, 40 advocates made their way through the Guadalajara streets once again and stopped in front of the State's Human Rights Commission. According to El Occidental, advocates declared their opposition to their governor's Supreme Court appeal, as well as the interference of the other PAN-affiliated governors into the affairs of Mexico City. They also announced a campaign they called "Thousand for Our Rights" and said that they would be collecting 1,000 signatures from Guadalajara residents asking the Human Rights Commission to protect the rights of the city's LGBT community.

Milenio reported that leaders of three local LGBT rights organizations symbolically shut down the Commission's office by placing rainbow-colored chains and red-tape on its front doors and declaring a "quarantine" [see top photo]. Members of the Lesbian and Gay Committee (COLEGA AC), the Sexual Diversity Commission (Codise) and the Sexual Diversity University Network said that they were shutting down the office to protest the inaction of the president of the Commission, Jesús Álvarez Cibrián, who refused to take any action against the Supreme Court appeal filed by Jalisco's governor.

A representative of the Human Rights Commission refused to talk to demonstrators but said that the agency stood by its claims that the governor's actions were beyond their scope of work.

Rodrigo Rincón, president of Codise, said that protest organizers were considering taking additional actions, including outing political and religious leaders who stood in opposition to the advancement of LGBT rights, following similar actions by LGBT advocates in the United States.

From El Occidental:

In Jalisco we want to do the same: First we will look for them and see how they can support the cause, if there is no free will by gay public figures, or if they don't take a position that is of beneficial on these issues - because we have seen these officials speaking badly about the initiatives that have been presented - if this continues to happen, in the middle of the year we will release some pictures, videos, which include interviews with partners and ex-partners of the officials, so that they can provide names and be witnesses to all of this.

Finally, in an interview posted today on NotiSistema, Rosa Maria Trejo Villalobos, Coordinator of Codise stated that there were 14 couples from Jalisco who were planning to travel to Mexico City to get married on March 14th. She said that they would join approximately 300 other same-sex couples who had petitioned for the right to get married once the law goes into effect on March 4th.

Amazing all that's been happening in Jalisco, no?

As for the homophobic opposition to Mexico City's marriage equality law, it doesn't only come from within the nation. The United States religious right is also freaking out. Earlier today, the World Congress of Families, led by several right-wing religious groups in the United States, announced a "World Congress of Families Leadership Petition To Save Marriage In Mexico City".

US-based signers include Gary Bauer, Tom DeLay, Tony Perkins, Maggie Gallagher and Yuri Mantilla. Oh joy! Funny how they would blow a fuse if another nation meddled into United States policies but are all too glad to tell Mexico what to do.

No worries in the short-term as their actions will probably have null effect on the current Supreme Court's deliberation of the constitutionality of the law. The clear intent is to push Mexico to adopt a constitutional ban on same-sex marriages because, if they haven't achieved a constitutional ban in the United States, why not try Mexico? Ugh.

• Related: If you want to follow the latest on Mexico City's marriage equality law and you are on Twitter, you can follow the #MatrimonioDF hashtag or my @NoticiasLGBT Twitter account. A warning: Both feeds provide information that is overwhelmingly in Spanish.