Lowlights & Highlights: December 8, 2012

Rest in peace Dave Brubeck.

~

When it comes to marriage equality, the very Catholic and very Christian Latin America is about the last place you wold expect to see progress. However, there was news from three countries that flies in the face that "conventional wisdom.

In Mexico, Mexico City currently has full equality, although other parts of the country do not, and Mexico has no DoMA-type legislation. The Supreme Court ruled that marriages performed in Mexico City must be recognized in other parts of the country. While this does not immediately get rid of existing marriage bans, the Supreme Court has given the country a pathway to marriage equality.

In Colombia, equality legislation passed the first of four votes 10-5 in committee. The next step is Senate debate, though no date has been set for that to begin. The Colombian legislature is up against a court-imposed deadline, June 20, 2013. If the legislature does not act by then, "...couples will automatically gain the right to go to any judge or notary public to formalize their union." (Gay Star News). It is sort of win-win, though like here in the states, conservatives are calling for a referendum.

In Uruguay, the lower legislative chamber is set to vote on marriage equality next week. It is expected to pass there and in the Senate (though the Senate vote will not be for some months).

When it comes to marriage equality, Latin America is kicking the States' ass. While this makes us look bad by comparison, I'm definitely happy for the couples in these countries who are moving closer to being seen as the equals of their hetero-counterparts in the eyes of the law.

Mexican Supreme Court Strikes Down Marriage Bans

From After Marriage:

The Supreme Court of Mexico issued a unanimous ruling Wednesday afternoon that paves the way to universal marriage rights in the country.

The actual ruling won’t be published for a little while, but the gay rights advocates who brought the case are proclaiming that today’s ruling “opens the door to equal marriage in the whole country.”

The court ruled on behalf of three same-sex couple seeking to marry in the southern state of Oaxaca. The court had already ruled in 2010 that gay marriages performed under a Mexico City ordinance had to be recognized nationwide. With this precedent, the remaining bans on gay marriage in most Mexican states could quickly fall.

This ruling does not immediately eliminate marriage statutes limiting unions to a man and a woman—the Mexican Supreme Court doesn’t have the power to strike down state laws like that en mass as the United States Supreme Court does. But the lawyer who brought the case, Alex Alí Méndez Díaz, said before the ruling that victory would mean the beginning of the end for bans on same-sex marriage...