President Enrique Peña Nieto proposed to legalize same-sex marriage in Mexico nationwide, joining the growing number of nations and Latin American countries that already recognize the practice, despite the opposition of the Roman Catholic Church.
“This way marriage equality will be explicit in our constitution,” the president said during the International Day against Homophobia, according to LA Times.
During said event, activists and members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Transvestite, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTTTI) communities kiss in front of the Palace of Fine Arts in Mexico City on May 17.
“We cannot have in our country a situation where people have certain rights in some states and not the same [rights] in other states,” said the Mexican president said, since same-sex marriage is currently legal in Mexico City but not in the entire nation.
President Peña Nieto proposed modifications to Article 4 of the constitution and to the national legal code, to acknowledge the people’s ability to marry “without discrimination for reasons of ethnic or national origins, disabilities, social or health conditions, gender, religion or sexual preferences” as a "human right."
While making the announcement, the Twitter page of the president and other government Twitter accounts were colored rainbow, BBC News reported.
The proposal was immediately supported by gay, lesbian and human rights groups that had been pushing to achieve the change. But the proposal will still pass the National Congress and the state legislatures. However, there is a huge chance that the lawmakers will support it since Peña Nieto, standard-bearer of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party.
“The announcement from President Peña Nieto is of course good news,” said Paulina Martinez Peredo, a head of a lesbian rights group in Mexico. “It appears that there is a disposition on the part of the government to work for the rights of homosexual persons.”
Other countries that recently legalized same-sex marriage are Latin America, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Colombia.
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