Mexico's Supreme Court on Friday
rejected three out of five challenges to Mexico City's gay marriage
law, El Universal reported.
The court said the challenges brought
by the governors of three states controlled by the conservative PAN
Party were “clearly inappropriate.”
The decision, written by Minister
Sergio Valls, said the states did not have the legal authority to
challenge the laws of another state or the nation's federal district
of Mexico City.
The court's ruling applies to lawsuits
submitted by the states of Morelos, Guanajuato and Tlaxcala.
The law – approved in December and
expected to take effect on March 4 – is a first for Latin America.
It gives gay and lesbian couples all the rights and responsibilities
of marriage, including the right to adopt children. Previously, the
city government recognized gay couples with civil unions, but gay
adoption was banned.
The governors had argued that the law
was unconstitutional and will force their state governments to
recognize the marriages of gay couples.
“These reforms could obligate the
states and municipalities to recognize marriages between same-sex
couples and so, in Jalisco, the same rights recognized for matrimony
in its laws would be awarded to them,” Jalisco Secretary General of
Government Fernando Guzman said in a statement.
Guzman also said the law would hurt
children.
“What we are protecting is marriage
and children, so that children who are adopted have the right to a
family, and a family consisting of a father and a mother,” he told
the Guadalajara-based newspaper Publico.
The court has yet to review challenges
by two additional states – Sonora and Jalisco – and another by
the federal government of President Felipe Calderon, who is also a
member of the PAN.
The Roman Catholic Church has widely
criticized the law. Mexico's Roman Catholic archbishop, Cardinal
Noberto Rivera Carrera, has called the law “immoral” and
“reprehensible.”
Mexico City is the nation's seat of
government and also its largest city. Nearly 10% of Mexicans call
the city home.
A recent poll found a majority (46%) of
residents approve of the law, 43% oppose it, and 11% are undecided.