Mexican Supreme Court OKs gay adoption

In a 9-2 vote Aug. 16, Mexico’s Supreme Court upheld the portion of Mexico
City’s same-sex marriage law that lets married gay and lesbian couples
adopt.

In two other August rulings, the court had upheld the main part of the
marriage law and ruled that same-sex couples who marry in Mexico City are
validly married everywhere in the nation, in all 31 states.

Human Rights Watch said the trio of rulings confirmed “that the state
cannot withhold any legal rights on the grounds of a person’s sexual
orientation and gender identity.”

“This decision will have resonance for courts throughout the continent for
protecting the basic human rights of LGBT people,” said the group’s
Juliana Cano Nieto.

Mexico City’s legalization of same-sex marriage and adoption had been
targeted by the federal attorney general, whose office said the moves
undermined “family” and the interests of children.

The court decided, however, that married heterosexuals are just one kind
of “family” and that children’s interests are served by having a loving
family regardless of their parents’ sex.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Iceland, the
Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Mexico City,
Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington,
D.C. Mexico City same-sex marriages are recognized throughout the nation.
Two other U.S. states — New York and Maryland — recognize, as full
marriages, same-sex marriages that were entered into elsewhere. California
recognizes both same-sex marriages from elsewhere and same-sex marriages
that took place in California — if the marriage in question occurred
before the November 2008 passage of Proposition 8.

Same-sex couples can adopt in Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway,
Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Mexico City and 16 U.S. states
and Washington, D.C. In addition, a gay or lesbian partner can adopt his
or her partner’s child in Denmark, Finland, Germany, Norway and 25 U.S.
states and Washington, D.C.

By Rex Wockner