Tens of thousands march against plans to legalise gay marriage in Mexico

Tens of thousands of people have marched through Mexico City in protest at president Enrique Pena Nieto’s push to legalise same-sex marriage. Organisers of the National Front for the Family estimated at least 215,000 people participated, making it one of the largest protest marches in Mexico in recent years. Dressed mainly in white and carrying white balloons, the marchers held banners warning against same-sex marriage and demanding parents’ right to control sex education in schools. Some carried placards saying: “An adopted child deserves a mother and a father.”

We are not against anybody’s (sexual) identity. What we are against is the government imposition … of trying to impose gender ideology in education

Protester Abraham Ledesma

In May, Pena Nieto proposed legalising same-sex marriage nationwide - it is only lawful legal only in a few areas, including Mexico City. However, after recent election defeats in which the controversial proposal played a part, it has been put on the back burner. Many saw Saturday’s march as the Roman Catholic church flexing its political muscle in a country where about 80% of people identify as nominally Catholic. The demonstrators are demanding a meeting with the president to discuss his proposal. Gay and lesbian activists staged smaller rival protests during the event.

They may be the majority. But just because they are the majority, doesn’t mean they can take rights away from minorities. That would lead us to a dark period, to fundamentalism.

Gay activist Felipe Quiroz

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