Brian Brown, president of the National
Organization for Marriage (NOM) and the World Congress of Families
(WCF), will lead a protest at the Mexican embassy in Washington
against a proposal to legalize marriage rights for gay and lesbian
couples throughout Mexico.
Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto in
May asked lawmakers to debate the issue. While Mexico's highest
court has ruled that gay couples have a constitutional right to
marry, most states continue to deny marriage licenses to gay couples.
The Roman Catholic group National Front
for the Family (FNF) earlier this month organized marches against the
proposal in multiple cities, which drew, according to Reuters, “tens
of thousands” of protesters to the streets. The activists are
calling for a constitutional amendment which would exclude same-sex
couples from marriage. A national march in Mexico City is scheduled
for September 24.
(Related: Boy
confronts thousands of protesters marching against gay marriage in
Mexico.)
In a Facebok post, Brown said his
protest would be held on Friday at noon in front of the Mexican
embassy in Washington, D.C., and that protesters would be delivering
a petition in support of the FNF to Mexican officials.
“We will join together to show
support for the efforts by the Frente Nacional por la Familia (FNF)
and other leaders in Mexico to oppose radical proposals by Mexico’s
government under President Enrique Peña Nieto, which include:
imposing same-sex ‘marriage’ across the land, in every legal
venue; promoting 'gender ideology' in public schools so that children
are taught that they can choose their own gender; and undermining the
right of parents to decide on the education of their children
according to their own convictions and principles,” Brown wrote.
“Our gathering will feature some
notable Hispanic and Latino pro-family leaders, and we will be
delivering a letter to the Embassy showing support for the efforts of
the Frente National por la Familia and their millions of grassroots
supporters,” he added.