One year after a gay marriage law took
effect in Mexico City, 700 gay and lesbian couples have married in
the nation's capital.
The figures were released Friday by the
city government.
Three-hundred-sixty-seven of the
couples were male and three-hundred-thirty-three were female.
Most of the couples (456) were between
30 and 40 years of age, but 9 were in the age group of 71-90.
Lawmakers approved the law that gives
gay couples all the rights and responsibilities of marriage,
including the right to adopt children, in December, 2009.
Previously, the city government recognized gay couples with civil
unions, but gay adoption was banned. The law went into effect on
March 4, 2010.
The conservative federal government
challenged the law, but the
nation's Supreme Court declared the law constitutional and ruled
that all Mexican states must recognize the gay marriages of the
nation's capital.
Following in the footsteps of Mexico
City was Argentina, the first Latin American country to legalize the
institution, and
its first gay couple married on Friday, July 30, 2010 in provincial
Santiago del Estero.
The
Roman Catholic Church has harshly criticized the movement to legalize
gay marriage in the region.