_WORLD WATCH______________________________
______________________MEXICO___________________
Same-sex benefits?
City ponders a new policy
Mexico City’s government is considering a new law that would recognize same-sex unions, granting the same legal rights as enjoyed by married couples. The proposed change in policy has drawn strong criticism from many in this Catholic country.
The left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) announced its plan to advance the proposed law before the city’s legislature. The law would create the legal status of “binding union,” similar to common-law marriage. “This does not mean that gay individuals can go to a civil registry and get married,” but there would be legal rights extended to gay couples’ estates and possessions, said Gilberto Ensastiga, a PRD lawmaker. The legal union would come into effect after a homosexual or lesbian couple lived together for two years.
“The Catholic Church . . . will not be in agreement with this proposal, as it has not been in other places where this is already in practice, such as Europe, the United States, and in parts of Canada,” said Auxiliary Bishop Jose Gonzalez of Guadalajara.
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