Mexico City Legalizes Gay Marriage

Mexico City is set to become the first Latin American capital to say "hola" to gay weddings after lawmakers there approved a bill yesterday giving gays full marriage rights, including the right to adopt. The bill is expected to be signed into law by Mayor Marcelo Ebrard. "We are putting an end to segregation and stigmatization of a sector of society," declared a legislator who voted for the measure. Activists burst into cheers and tears when the bill was passed.

The measure changes the city's legal definition of marriage from the union of a man and a woman to the "free uniting of two people," reports Reuters. Catholic leaders and conservatives are strongly opposed to the move, and are pressuring Ebrard to veto it. The lawmakers "have erased the term 'mother' and 'father' in one stroke of the pen," complained the president of the College of Catholic Attorneys. (More Mexico stories.)