A lawmaker from the Mexican state of Colima has asked authorities
to ban gay weddings from public spaces.
Rafael Mendoza argued that since the state only recognizes gay and
lesbian couples with civil unions, allowing such ceremonies confuses
children.
“Parents are coming to me, to my house, to tell me they are
against the city carrying out these weddings in public,” Mendoza
said. “I am not against these civil unions; the only thing is
I don't want them in public.”
Mendoza made his remarks in response to the wedding of a male gay
couple in the main plaza of the city of Cuauhtemoc.
When a reporter asked Mendoza if he thought such weddings should
take place “in the shadows,” he answered: “Sure, you can do it
in the registry office or something more private.”
After his party, the Democratic Revolution Party, asked him to
take back his comments, Mendoza said that he would rather give up his
party leadership in the state congress, insisting that he has only
brought up the concerns of his constituents.
Colima approved the civil unions law in May.
Gay couples can legally marry in Mexico City and the state of
Oaxaca. Last month, a federal court ordered officials in the state
of Yucatan to recognize and register the marriage of a gay couple.
(Related: First
gay couple marry in Yucatan, Mexico.)