Rafael Ramirez and Sebastian Becerril,
the first gay couple to marry under Mexico City's gay marriage law,
have announced they are separating.
A photo of the couple celebrating
passage of the law in 2009 ran in papers and magazines throughout the
world. In the iconic photo, Ramirez and Becerril embrace at a gay
bar in Mexico City.
Ramirez blamed irreconcilable
differences for the break up.
“On matters pertaining only to the
couple, and because of irreconcilable differences, after almost two
and a half year years of marriage, I have decided to divorce
Sebastian Becerril … the decision is final,” Ramirez is quoted as
saying by the Mexican
media.
Mexico City was the first municipality
in Latin America to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry and to
have the same rights as heterosexual unions. Opponents appealed the
measure to the nation's highest court. But the tactic backfired; the
court declared the law constitutional and instructed all states to
recognized all the marriages of Mexico City.