in the last 13 months, 12 of Mexico's 32 states have approved amendments to their state constitutions defining a fertilised human egg as a person with a right to legal protection, and seven other state parliaments are taking steps in the same direction.

 Behind the wave of reforms of state constitutions, according to critics, is a pact between the hierarchy of the Mexican Catholic Church and the leadership of the most traditional political parties to curb social movements advocating the legalisation of abortion.

"I have no direct evidence, but we have repeatedly heard allegations" that such a pact exists, María Mejía, head of Catholics for the Right to Decide (CDD), told IPS.

According to María Luisa Sánchez, director of the Information Group on Reproductive Choice (GIRE), what is happening is a kind of "revenge" on the part of conservative groups. "These reforms are absurd and put women at risk," she told IPS.

 No woman is happy to make the decision to have an abortion and no woman seeks an abortion for pleasure, which is "something conservatives just don't understand," and that is why they close the doors to women and their rights, and even worse, threaten them with imprisonment, Mejía said.

The state criminal codes lay down different penalties for women who have abortions, except for victims of rape or when the mother's life is endangered. In some cases, foetal malformation is also accepted as a legal reason for abortion.

In the state of Veracruz, for example, abortion carries a prison sentence of six months to four years; in Jalisco it is four months to one year, in Guanajuato from six months to three years, and in Baja California Sur from two months to two years.

Studies indicate that clandestine abortions are the fourth or fifth cause of death among Mexican women, and that obtaining permission for an abortion is complicated and, in many cases, impossible.

After the August 2008 Supreme Court resolution, GIRE legal adviser Pedro Morales called on state legislators to move from "prohibitive and punitive regimes on abortion to permissive laws compatible with the fundamental rights of women."

 

http://domino.ips.org/ips%5Ceng.nsf/vwWebMainView/68E2C9BA2E3A1B65C12575BE0063CF9D/?OpenDocument

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Groundbreaking Ordinations in Mexico

Rev. Angela del Consuelo Trejo Haager, Rev. María Elena Ortega Mora and Rev. Sofía Deyanira Tenorio May receive the laying on of hands.© LWF/David Brondos

The Mexican Lutheran Church has affirmed a commitment to women in ministry with its first-ever ordination of female pastors. The three women will serve in congregations of the LWF member church in Mexico City.

Rev. Dr Elaine Neuenfeldt, LWF women's desk secretary, called the ordinations an "important sign" that will further reflection within the Lutheran communion on this issue. The LWF endorses women in ministry, and celebrates public witness of ordained women as both an expression and a gift of women’s leadership.

“The ordained ministry of women has been celebrated in the communion as expression and gift of women’s leadership and is a commitment member churches are encouraged to address,” Neuenfeldt told LWI. “The public witness of ordained women has also strengthened women in other areas of leadership, in both church and society.”

http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/2394.EN.html

 

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Women can now be ordained as ministers in the Anglican Diocese of Bermuda.

The landmark decision was the result of a vote by the Synod at its June meeting.

The Anglican Bishop of Bermuda, the Rt. Rev. Patrick White, said support for the move was so overwhelming that a count was not taken.

"The feeling among most was: 'Why shouldn't women be able to be ordained?'" said Bishop White. "The vast majority feel women can do the job as well as men."

in at least three churches cheers and applause were spontaneous after the announcement.

Sandra Bushara, a lay reader at St. Mary's in Warwick is interested in women's ministry and welcomed the news.

"I am pleased with the decision, especially as I feel that ministry is a 'calling' and that women who feel led by God to preach the Gospel should be able to do so, especially as it is already happening throughout the world in our own faith," she said.

"The precedent was already there. I think that the decision was not a random one either, but one reached due to the prayers of many, both men and women here on this Island.

http://www.theroyalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d9732f30030001§ionId=60

The ordination of Dr. Arnold Hollis as Bermuda's first black Anglican minister broke a racial glass ceiling in the 1950s. Now, more than 50 years later his daughter Joanna is uniquely poised to break yet another glass ceiling of the local Anglican Church.

Last month the Synod of the Anglican Church of Bermuda voted in favour of the ordination of women. The landmark decision came just four days after Ms Hollis became Rev. Hollis as she was ordained a Deacon in a US Episcopal church. She is expected to be ordained as a minister in the autumn.

 

Rev. Hollis explained that although she still has to be ordained into the priesthood, that it would not take place in Bermuda.

"My ordination to the priesthood will be determined by my bishop, the Rt. Rev. Mary Gray-Reeves. It will either be back at Trinity Cathedral or at/near the location of my first call," she said.

Back in 1956 her father, Dr. Hollis, was the first black Bermudian sponsored by the Anglican diocese in Bermuda for Holy Orders.

A fighter for tearing down walls of segregation, Dr. Hollis said he'd always advocated that women be given full rights in the church at all levels.

"It is such a thrill to realise that we have gotten this far in our interaction with each other," he said of the June decision to allow women to be ordained.

"Even before I realised that my daughter had this leaning to serving God and his church, I had always been a proponent of women being more visible in the church and I paid a penalty. I suffered rejection by the Church because of that," he added.

http://www.royalgazette.com/siftology.royalgazette/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7d9792330030016§ionId=118

 

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Amnesty International describes the total ban on therapeutic abortion -- carried out to protect the health of the mother -- as "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment."

"Nicaragua's ban on therapeutic abortion is a disgrace," Amnesty International's Executive Deputy Secretary General Kate Gilmore said at a media briefing in Mexico City to launch the report.

"It is a human rights scandal that ridicules medical science and distorts the law into a weapon against the provision of essential medical care to pregnant girls and women," she added.

According to official figures cited in the Amnesty report, in the first five months of 2009, 33 girls and women died from pregnancy and birth-related complications, compared to 20 in the same period last year.

Before the law was changed therapeutic abortion had been recognized as a necessary procedure in Nicaragua for more than 100 years, Amnesty said.

However, President Daniel Ortega of the left-wing Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) backed the law banning abortion to win crucial conservative Roman Catholic support in the January 2007 elections, Amnesty said.

No one from the country's health ministry was available for comment.

 http://edition.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/07/28/nicaragua.abortion.ban/

For some Nicaraguans, the issue is a touchstone of the legacy of the Sandinista revolution, which has just marked its 30th anniversary.

Ahead of the 2006 elections that brought the Sandinistas back to power after a lengthy spell in opposition, they backed calls from the Roman Catholic church for the end to therapeutic abortions.

This was "playing politics with the lives of women and girls", says Patricia Orozco. She fought on the side of the Sandinistas and is today a radio journalist and activist.

I asked her whether she felt there had been a betrayal of the revolution she took part in.

"We see our comrades in the revolution all changed, many of the women in particular."

At the University of Leon, Dr Herrera said that 30 years ago when the revolution took place he dreamed that there would be freedom for women.

"I have been working with women for many years. It has been very hard for women - especially now."

 

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8171047.stm

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-nicaragua-abortion28-2009jul28,0,946345.story

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jul/27/nicaragua-blanket-ban-abortions-rape

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/shocking-abortion-ban-denies-life-saving-treatment-girls-women-nicaragua-20090727

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Mexico City lawmakers on Monday made the city the first in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, a change that will give homosexual couples more rights, including allowing them to adopt children.

The bill passed the capital's local assembly 39-20 to the cheers of supporters who yelled: "Yes, we could! Yes, we could!"

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/12/21/mexico-city-approves-gay_n_399797.html

The change will enable same-sex couples to adopt, apply for bank loans, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse – rights they were denied under the civil unions allowed in the city.

"We are so happy," said Temistocles Villanueva, a 23-year-old film student, who celebrated the new legislation by kissing his boyfriend outside the city assembly.

"For centuries, unjust laws banned marriage between blacks and whites or Indians and Europeans," Victor Romo, of the Democratic Revolution party, said. "Today, all barriers have disappeared."

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/22/mexico-city-same-sex-marriage

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Bermuda's first female Anglican priest has spoken of the "significance and importance" of her groundbreaking new role.

Reverend Joanna Hollis was ordained in Santa Barbara, California on December 10 and has joined her father, Archdeacon Emeritus, Arnold Hollis in becoming an Anglican priest.

The Anglican Church of Bermuda only this year overturned 400 years of tradition and voted in favour of women clergy on the Island.

Speaking about being the first female Bermudian priest, Rev. Hollis, who prefers to be called Joanna, said: "I think at this point, I haven't wrapped my head about it because you know in California where I am, I'm not thinking about it because there's females all over the place. But I am coming to realise the significance and the importance.

"It doesn't have anything to do with me personally, but it's important for the women of Anglican church in Bermuda and in general. It's pretty significant and I am honoured to be the one who's representing this movement."

 http://www.royalgazette.com/rg/Article/article.jsp?articleId=7da123730030005§ionId=60

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E Cuba sarebbe una nazione sessista? Di sicuro non gli anglicani cubani che hanno appena nominato, per la seconda volta, una donna vescovo. L'altra è Nerva Cot Aguilera.

Anglican Church of Canada Archbishop Fred J. Hiltz announced Jan. 22 that the Metropolitan Council of Cuba, which he chairs, has appointed the Rev. Griselda Delgado Del Carpio as bishop coadjutor of the Episcopal Church of Cuba.

Currently the rector of Santa Maria Virger in Itabo, Cuba, Delgado will be ordained and consecrated on Feb. 7 at the closing service for Cuba's synod meeting at Holy Trinity Cathedral in Havana, Hiltz said in a letter to the Cuban church.

Delgado will work with Bishop Miguel Tamayo of the Anglican Church of Uruguay as he completes his work as Cuba's interim bishop, Hiltz said, and a date will be set for her installation as diocesan bishop.

Delgado "has a lot of insight into the history of the church's witness in Cuban society," Hiltz said, predicting that she "will lead the church in the spirit of compassionate and courageous discipleship."

"She is committed to the ministry of all the baptized and to the principles of diverse and dispersed leadership," Hiltz wrote. "She is well aware of the need to give attention to stewardship of financial resources for maintaining ministry and mission. She recognizes the necessity for strategic planning including both short and long-term goals."

 The Cuban church, with about 40 congregations and some 10,000 Episcopalians, is also served by two bishops suffragan, Nerva Cot Aguilera and Ulises Aguero Prendes, who were selected by the Metropolitan Council in February 2007 and consecrated in June the same year.

http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81808_118748_ENG_HTM.htm

 

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PRESIDENT of the Islamic Council of Jamaica, Mustafa Muhammad, says he agrees with the Sharia law which prescribes death for people who openly flaunt homosexual behaviour.

Muhammad did not mince words as he lashed out against what he described as an unclean, unnatural lifestyle.

 

“It is illegal and in the Sharia law the punishment is death. If you follow Christianity it is a crime in the sight of God. He destroyed a whole city because of this thing. It is an ungodly practice and I apologise to no one for this,” Muhammad said.

Under Jamaican law, persons who practice buggery — the sexual penetration of the anus — can be sent to prison for up to 10 years.

http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Muslim-leader-blasts-gay-lifestyle

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UN member states should urge Nicaragua to repeal its ban on abortion following a human rights' review of the country on 8 February, Amnesty International said on Thursday.

"Nicaragua's ban on abortion is the result of a shocking and draconian law that is compelling rape and incest victims to carry pregnancies to term and causing a rise in maternal deaths," said Widney Brown, Senior Director of International Law and Policy at Amnesty International. "UN member states should take this opportunity to hold Nicaragua to account for a law that violates women's right to life, health and dignity."

The organization also reiterated its call on the Nicaraguan authorities to decriminalize abortion in all circumstances. Amnesty International said Nicaragua should ensure that women and girls have access to safe and legal abortion services when an unwanted pregnancy is a result of rape or incest or when it threatens the woman's health or life.

The organization also found an increase in maternal deaths since the introduction of the ban.

In the first 19 weeks of 2009, some 16 per cent of all maternal deaths were as a consequence of unsafe abortion compared to none in the same period in 2008.

Nicaragua's ban on abortion is a cause of grave concern in the wider international community. Tens of thousands of Amnesty International activists appalled at the impact of the ban on women's and girl's human rights, have signed petitions and contacted the Nicaraguan authorities to call for the repeal of the law.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/un-urged-condemn-nicaragua-abortion-ban-20100204

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Chinchilla won 46.8 percent of the vote

She became vice minister of public security in 1994, and the first female minister of public security from 1996 to 1998. Chinchilla was elected member of the Legislative Assembly in 2002 and in 2006 she became vice president for incumbent President Oscar Arias.

Chinchilla campaigned on a platform promising more jobs, better living standards for children and senior citizens, crackdown on drug trafficking and other crimes.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/database/2010-02/08/c_13168113.htm

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Women have always had it bad in Haiti. Now things are worse.

"I try not to sleep," says Chamblain, 22, who lost her father and now lives in a squalid camp with her mother and aunts near the Port-au-Prince airport. "Some of the men who escaped from prison are coming around to the camps and causing problems for the women. We're all scared but what can we do? Many of our husbands, boyfriends and fathers are dead."

Reports of attacks are increasing: Women are robbed of coupons needed to obtain food at distribution points. Others relay rumours of rape and sexual intimidation at the outdoor camps, now home to more than a half million earthquake victims.

The government's communications minister, Marie-Laurence Jocelyn Lassegue, recently acknowledged the vulnerability of women and children but said the government was pressed to prioritize food, shelter and debris removal.

Women have long been second-class citizens in Haiti.

According to the United Nations, the Haitian Constitution does not specifically prohibit sexual discrimination. Under Haitian law, the minimum legal age for marriage is 15 years for women and 18 years for men, and early marriage is common. A 2004 U.N. report estimated 19 per cent of girls between the ages of 15 and 19 were married, divorced or widowed.

Rape was only made a criminal offence in Haiti in 2005.

Before the earthquake, the government set up a panel to look at ways of empowering Haitian women. But the Women's Ministry was among the government buildings destroyed.

Three Haitian women working on important judiciary reforms to protect women against sexual violence - Myriam Merlet, Anne Marie Coriolan and Magalie Marcelin - died in the earthquake. Many view their deaths as setbacks for all Haitian women

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5g_Uistb-pTaPILQCAYMan7nm_Rpw

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The Revd Dr Marjorie Lewis, who worked as a missionary at URC head office, is to be the first female president of the United Theological College of the West Indies.

Marjorie Lewis, who takes up her post on 1 August 2010, is best known to the URC in the UK through a three-year secondment to Church House between 1997 and 2000. She worked as part of the Racial Justice and Multicultural Ministry team, conducting an assessment of race relations within the church, and developing policies to foster racial justice.

Marjorie Lewis was ordained in 1980 by the Disciples of Christ in Jamaica, (now part of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands), and served as pastor for churches in rural Jamaica; as sub-regional officer for the Caribbean Conference of Churches; as a project officer for Oxfam UK and general secretary of the Jamaica Council of Churches. She has also published various academic articles and co-authored books on theology. 

http://www.urc.org.uk/news/2010/january/United_Reformed_missionary_to_head_Caribbean_college

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E, per inciso, il primo matrimonio tra lesbiche in America Latina. Sotto, un video delle delle neo-spose.

A law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry comes into effect on Thursday in Mexico City.

The law, which was passed by the city's local assembly in December, gives gay people full marital rights, including the right to adopt.

Judith Vazquez and partner Lol-kin Castaneda hope to become one of the first couples to marry under the new law.

"It's the end of our fight and the beginning of life in freedom in Mexico City," Ms Vazquez told the BBC.

"This is a great, historic moment for the whole of society in Mexico City," added Ms Castaneda.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8549400.stm

 

 

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Violence, and in particular, sexual violence against women and girls in Haiti is pervasive and widespread. This report focuses on the experiences of girls. While their experiences reflect the continuum of gender-based violence against women in general, international law recognizes the particular protection needs of children. Amnesty International is urging the Haitian authorities to take all necessary steps to fulfil their obligations under regional and international human rights law and to enable the National Plan to Combat Violence Against Women to be implemented effectively.

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/AMR36/004/2008/en

http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/AMR36/004/2008/en/f8487127-b1a5-11dd-86b0-2b2f60629879/amr360042008eng.pdf

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Women's civil society groups were noticeable by their absence from the landmark Haiti donor conference on 31 March, which secured pledges of US$5.3 billion over the next two years to support the country’s post-quake recovery.

Their lack of a presence at the meeting was indicative of a broader missing voice in Haiti’s long-term reconstruction prospects, gender activists argued.

“Why are we not there right now, where are the women at this conference?” questioned Marie St. Cyr, a Haitian human rights advocate. “We still don’t have full participation and we certainly don’t have full inclusion. Haitian women are still being raped…they are supporting more than half of the households, and yet they are not being heard.”

Women in Haiti, however, do not have the luxury of waiting for action, St. Cyr noted. Before the earthquake, they were running half the households – and those numbers have now risen, with women taking in children from other families.

The issue of sexual violence also remains an enormously grave, though largely undocumented one.

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88662

Violence against women is not surprising in Haiti's male dominated society rife with gender stereotypes. Sadly, efforts have not been made to secure equal participation and development of women at any level. For example, of the 18 ministries governing Haiti, only two were headed by women pre-earthquake, and the level of professional women working in Haiti's public administration positions barely reached a dismal 7.2%.

All this must change in the rebuilding process of Haiti to ensure sustainable development and prosperity. A change of culture must also happen within the highest levels of decision makers focused on Haiti's recovery plans in and outside of the country to recognize the urgent need to ensure gender equality in the establishment of Haitian institutions, norms and policies

A group of individuals in the Haitian Diaspora and international women's rights advocates recently formed Poto Mitan: Rebuilding Haiti, an initiative to promote the rights of women and girls. Working with women's groups in Haiti, they also joined forces with Rele Fanm Ak Fi (A Call to Women and Girls): Haiti Gender Equality Collaborative to draft a preliminary "shadow report" that maps out a blueprint for putting women at the center of Haiti's recovery.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/taina-bienaime/haitian-women-enter-at-ce_b_519103.html

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Recently, the heart-rending case of a 10-year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape by her stepfather in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo on the Yucatán Peninsula (also home to the popular resort of Cancun) was made public by the media. According to GIRE-Grupo de Información en Reproducción Elegida, whose National Lawyers’ Network for the Defense of Reproductive Choice contacted the girl and her mother, it emerged that they had apparently received biased information from authorities about their rights and access to abortion.

Abortion is highly restricted in all of Mexico (except for Mexico City), but it is supposed to be available in cases of certain situations such as rape. However, it is very common for state health and legal officials to blatantly ignore the law, lie to women, and deny women and girls their rights.

Mexican women and girls risk their lives and health to obtain abortions and there are at least 600,000 to one million illegal abortions annually in the country. At least 1,500 women die of medical complications following abortion every year and there are estimates of at least 50,000-100,000 post-abortion complications that are treated in health facilities every year. Abortion is the third to fourth highest cause of maternal mortality in Mexico. 

In the coastal state of Veracruz, at least five women are serving 12-to-15 year sentences for aborting a pregnancy after having been found guilty of homicide.So while celibate men whose Church is its own ethical crisis decide the fate of women’s health and bodies, the influential participation of the Church is both overt and covert, as Mexico has a Catholic majority but is constitutionally a secular state. Working behind political parties and other conservative organizations, there is no doubt that the Church’s influence in the health, lives, and destinies of women remains powerful and destructive, even as it is overstepping constitutional boundaries.

http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2010/04/27/control-coercion-threats-abortion-rights-mexico

 

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Congratulazioni!

When Kamla Persad-Bissessar shattered the glass ceiling to become this country's first female prime minister, she had her pick of splashy sites for her swearing-in: the stately presidential mansion, the multimillion-dollar diplomatic center or the gleaming new waterfront convention center.

She nixed them all. Instead, Persad-Bissessar will be sworn in at 4 p.m. Wednesday in the foreign ministry building across the street from a park where her supporters will be able to congregate.

Friends and family have watched for decades as Persad-Bissessar defied convention. Each time, it won her popular support. ``She needs to have people around her,'' said Ingrid Ismael, a longtime aid. ``That's her personality. She wanted to get to the people.''

Persad-Bissessar's victory bolsters a trend of women being elected to lead countries in the hemisphere.

Argentina's Cristina Fernández de Kirchner was elected three years ago, and Costa Rica's Laura Chinchilla won the presidency in February, becoming the first woman to be elected there. In Brazil, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is backing Dilma Rousseff, his chief of staff, for the presidency of Latin America's largest country in October's elections.

``In Latin America, at one point in time, the military was used as a method of populace politics,'' said Derek Ramsarooj, who manages campaigns in the region. ``Now, we're seeing the gender phenomenon, from Argentina to Costa Rica to Trinidad and Tobago.''

Early this year, Persad-Bissessar stunned the nation when she announced that she would challenge her mentor for the party's leadership. In February, she won the election in a landslide, then later replaced him as leader of the opposition in Parliament.

And on Monday, she defeated Manning, Panday's longtime political rival.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/05/26/v-fullstory/1648772/kamla-persad-bissessar-to-be-sworn.html

 

 

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In a landmark decision today, Mexico’s Supreme Court required all of the country’s states to distribute emergency contraception and to provide access to abortion for rape victims. The decision affirms women’s rights to health and life by enabling rape victims to avoid forced pregnancies, Human Rights Watch said.

“The Supreme Court’s decision protects women’s rights,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Americas director at Human Rights Watch. “The state should not force rape victims to suffer an imposed pregnancy.”

The Supreme Court’s decision came in response to a challenge brought by the state of Jalisco to a February 2009 federal health directive (NOM-046-SSA2-2005) that requires health workers to offer emergency contraception and legal abortion to rape victims.

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/05/27/mexico-supreme-court-protects-rape-victims

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La notizia è in spagnolo, riporto ad ogni modo il link diretto ed una breve sintesi in inglese. E ancora una volta mi ripeto: il vero coraggio sta nel dichiarrasi e vivere con integrità senzaper questo, nel caso delle donne, conformarsi ad un look trasandato e non curato. Kenia infatti è bellissima.

 "I spent all my life pretending, being someone else to please everyone or because I was afraid of lose job opportunities. Sometimes, you just do everything to stay in the business and at the end you lose yourself."

http://lesbicanarias.es/2010/06/24/kenia-gascon-sale-del-armario/

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0311061/

 

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 Six months after the earthquake in Haiti, we see a continued crisis of safety and security in the displacement camps that has exacerbated the already grave problem of sexual violence.

In May and June, MADRE joined delegations coordinated by the Lawyers' Earthquake Response Network (LERN) to Haiti to investigate the problem of rape and other gender-based violence in the camps. We found that women are being raped at an alarming rate—every day—in camps throughout Port-au-Prince. The Haitian Government, the UN and others in the international community have failed to adequately address the situation. Women, especially poor women, have been excluded from full participation and leadership in the relief effort.

Today, the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti (IJDH), MADRE, TransAfrica Forum and the Universities of Minnesota and Virginia law schools released this Report, Our Bodies Are Still Trembling: Haitian Women's Fight Against Rape. The report aims to bring to light the crisis and guide governments, international organizations and other stakeholders in providing for even more effective protection and promotion of women’s human rights in Haiti.

http://www.madre.org/index/press-room-4/news/new-report-released-on-haiti-our-bodies-are-still-trembling---haitian-womens-fight-against-rape-473.html

 http://www.madre.org/images/uploads/misc/1280239955_2010.07.26%20-%20HAITI%20GBV%20REPORT%20FINAL.pdf

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- Mexico's supreme court on Thursday upheld a landmark law that allows gay marriage in the capital city, bucking a challenge raised by the conservative government of President Felipe Calderon.

"Those of us who are in favor of this (law) are in favor of diversity and tolerance," Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldivar said during the court's deliberations.

"Our constitution does not establish a concept of marriage," he said.

Since the law was passed, more than 300 same-sex couples have tied the knot, the majority of them men.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6745RD20100805

The powerful Catholic hierarchy in Mexico calls gay marriage immoral.

While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause on Monday.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38584702/ns/world_news-americas

 

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Mexico's Supreme Court upheld on Monday a Mexico City law allowing married same-sex couples to adopt children in its second landmark gay rights decision this month.

The court on August 5 threw out a challenge led by the federal government to the part of the law approving gay marriage, but only ruled on Monday -- after more than a week of deliberations -- on the legislation's more controversial adoption provisions.

Mexico's ruling conservative National Action Party and the Catholic Church strongly opposed both provisions, arguing they would be destructive to traditional families.

"Given that the interests of the child must come first, the proposed reform is constitutional," said Supreme Court Justice Arturo Zaldivar.

Nine of the court's 11 judges voted to uphold the law.

http://in.reuters.com/article/idINTRE67F4ZH20100816

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