MEXICO CITY SAYS “SI” TO GAY UNIONS
Joyous gays and lesbians celebrated last week as the Mexico City Legislative assembly voted 43-17 to approve a bill allowing civil unions for gays and lesbians! It is historic, that more and more countries are moving forward on this issue!
The bill, which would not approve gay marriage, allows same-sex couples to register their union with civil authorities, granting them inheritance rights and other benefits typically given to spouses. Heterosexual couples who are not legally married can also be registered under the bill.
“This law … does not require anyone else to change their thinking, nor does it hurt the concept of the nuclear family,” said legislator Juan Bustos of the left-leaning Democratic Revolution Party, or PRD, which has pushed for the law in the capital for years.
Mexico City has 20 million people and is the Capitol of the Republic of Mexico. It’s the third largeest metropolis in the world, next to Tokyo and New York City. The Centerpiece of this great Capitol is the Zocalo. The second largest public gathering place in the world. (The first is Red Square, in Russia).
The Gay Tourist scene is located in the Zona Rosa on the Paseo de la Reforma. It includes the following avenues. Avenidas Insurgentes, Liverpoll, Londres, Hamburgo, Florencia, Amberes and particularly in the Avenidas Genova and Niza. Zona Rosa is a trendy ‘bohemian’ quarter with it chic mixed cafes and restaurants, its straight girlie-bars, gay clubs, discos, gift stores, video and Internet stores, fast food chains–many now happily hang the rainbow flag above their doors with hardly any notice from the predominantly non-gay crawlers in this district. Lots of restaurants and bar info is available at GAYMEXICO.com .
The Netherlands, Canada, South Africa, Belgium and Spain have legalized same-sex marriage, while several other European countries have laws giving same-sex couples the right to form legally binding civil partnerships. In the U.S., only the state of Massachusetts allows gay marriage, while Vermont and Connecticut permit civil unions.