Mexican law experts claim decision legalizing gay ‘marriage’ is ideological and unconstitutional

Mexico City, Mexico, Aug 10, 2010 / 12:08 pm

Mexican law experts spoke out this week against the ruling by the country’s Supreme Court which upheld the constitutionality of gay “marriage” in Mexico City. They rejected the court’s arguments saying the new law is unconstitutional because it contradicts the concept of marriage between a man and a woman established in the 1917 Constitution.

Amidst the debate in the Supreme Court over whether or not the ruling applies to the entire country or only to Mexico City, Dr. Jorge Adame, a researcher at the UNAM Institute for Legal Research, said that although the court has yet to issue a formal opinion in writing, the ruling that upholds the constitutionality of same-sex “marriage” in Mexico City does not imply that other Mexican states are required to accept them. He added that it also does not give same-sex couples the right to marry in other areas of the country.

Victor Manuel Montoya of the College of Lawyers and the Mexican Bar of Lawyers, said the court “cannot violate the sovereignty of state legislatures and much less ignore their sovereignty in legislating on civil matters, as is the case with marriage.”

Jose Antonio Sanchez Barroso, professor at the Pan-American University, said he also agrees that the law on same-sex “marriage” violates the Mexican Constitution. He called the ruling “ideological and not based on the law.”