MEXICO CITY: Woman Becomes Surrogate Birth Mother To Gay Son's Baby

After an in vitro fertilization procedure, a 50 year-old woman in Mexico City has become the surrogate mother to her 31 year-old gay son's baby using a donated egg and her son's sperm.

The baby, called Dario, was born by caesarean section on November 1 and the mother and child were sent home after a 48-hour period of observation. Doctors said there were no complications. ‘I don't feel like a mother nor like a grandmother,’ the woman told Reforma, a Mexico City newspaper. ‘When they say “mother” to me I feel strange, and when they say “grandmother” also,’ she said. ‘I mean, he was my first grandson, and I don't feel that way because at the same time he is my fourth son.’ The family has fully documented the circumstances of the birth so that the child will one day be able to learn of his origins.

The birth has already gotten widespread coverage on anti-gay and Christianist blogs, where it is being ridiculed as yet another example of "bizarre gay parenting." NOM tweeted the story this morning and the Freepers are having a field day.

MEXICO: State Of Baja California Moves To Ban Recognizing Same-Sex Marriage

The legislature of the Mexican border state of Baja California has voted 18-1 to ban the recognition of same-sex marriage, despite a recent Supreme Court ruling that all 31 states must recognize such unions performed in the nation's capital, the only place they are currently allowed. Rex Wockner reports:

As a result, the state legislature's move could set it on a collision course with the federal Supreme Court, although some amendment backers claimed they only want to prevent gay marriages from taking place in Baja. The amendment, however, does not make that clear. It reads: "The State recognizes and protects the institution of marriage as a right of society oriented to guarantee and safeguard the perpetuation of the species and mutual support between spouses, satisfying this only through the union of one man with one woman."

Wockner notes that to become law, the bill must be ratified by three of the state's five municipalities, which are similar to American counties. Anti-gay and pro-gay protesters clashed during the vote (video below.)

Quote Of The Day - Miss Universe

"Look, I believe that every person in this world has the right to profess the beliefs they have and I am in agreement. We have to respect what each human being decides to do with their lives, no? Clearly, there are limitations, of course, also, as there also are with heterosexual couples, no? Better said, there are limitations for any of the two - if they are heterosexual or homosexual - but I believe we have to learn to be respectful because they are people who are the same as us. There is no difference.

"And I don't believe it's just to discriminate somebody based on the gender they prefer, no? Based on the partner they choose to select, if it's a man or a woman. The truth is that I am absolutely against discrimination and, well, what can I say. I have many friends who are homosexual and I adore them. And they are equal folk: There is no reason we should want to set them aside, there is no reason why we shouldn't let them enjoy what they want to enjoy with their partner." - Mexico's Jimena Navarette, Miss Universe 2010, coming out for marriage equality in an interview translated by Andres Duque at Blabbeando.

Mexico City Invites Gay Honeymooners

Mexico City has launched a new tourism office to lure gay honeymooners from around the world.

"We hope that many same-sex couples who get married around the world spend their honeymoons here," says Alejandro Rojas, the city's tourism secretary. In July, the city opened an office aimed at catering to gay tourists that officials describe as the first of its kind in Latin America. "We are a very tolerant, liberal, avant-garde city," Rojas says. Officials inaugurated the new office by cutting a rainbow-colored ribbon. Rojas said the office's goal is to make Mexico City the No. 1 gay-friendly destination in Latin America. "Mexico has a tradition of being a rather macho culture... This is a sign of a very important social change," says Argentinean architect Jose Luis David Navarro, who will be spending part of his honeymoon in Mexico City this week.

The first gay couple to wed in Argentina is honeymooning in Mexico City this week on an all-expenses paid trip courtesy of the new tourism office.

Mexico Wins Miss Universe

Holland and Spain approved same-sex marriage and both ended up in the World Cup final. And now weeks after Mexico ruled that same-sex marriages must be recognized nationwide, they win Miss Universe. Was karma one of those crazy things that Americans believe in?

MEXICO: Groups Clash Over Marriage

The Catholic Church is fostering protests against same-sex marriage and adoption in Mexico with Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez saying publicly, "Would you want to be adopted by a pair of faggots or lesbians?" Things got very heated yesterday in Guadalajara.

Gay rights activists and a group of Roman Catholics in Mexico have yelled insults at each other during dueling demonstrations over same-sex marriage. Some 200 gay rights activists waved rainbow flags and held signs reading "Thank God I'm gay" at a plaza next to the cathedral in Guadalajara on Sunday. A similar number of protesters opposed to gay marriage prayed at the cathedral's doors. One of them ripped up a sign held by a gay rights activist, prompting screaming by both sides. It was the second confrontation in two days in Guadalajara, where Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez stirred controversy by suggesting Mexico's Supreme Court was bribed to uphold a Mexico City law allowing adoptions by homosexual couples.

Here's a short clip of yesterday's rally.

Mexico City Mayor Sues Catholic Cardinal Over Gay Marriage Accusations

Mexico City's Mayor Marcelo Ebrard has filed a defamation lawsuit against Cardinal Juan Sandoval after the cardinal told the press that Ebrard had bribed Mexico's Supreme Court justices to legalize same-sex marriage and gay adoption.

Sandoval made the allegations on Sunday during an event in Aguascalientes state. He also used a slur against gays while decrying the recent high court decisions that were called victories for the gay-rights community, as L.A. Times correspondent Tracy Wilkinson analyzes in this story. Church authorities were not backing down. Sandoval said Monday he would not retract his comments, and the archdiocese in Guadalajara later said it had proof of the allegations against the Supreme Court justices. Statements in support were issued from the archdiocese in Mexico City, while the Bishops' Conference of Mexico also said it supports Sandoval. In the secular institutional corner, the Supreme Court censured Sandoval's statements unanimously, and Ebrard issued a stark warning to the highest-ranking prelate of Mexico's second-largest city: "We live in a secular state, and here, whether we like it or not, the law rules the land," Ebrard said, according to La Jornada. "The cardinal must submit to the law of the land, like all other citizens of this country."

Earlier this month Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages performed in the nation's capital must be recognized in all 31 states. Last week the same court upheld the constitutionality of allowing gay adoption in Mexico City.

Gay Adoption Upheld In Mexico City

Updated bulletin from Rex Wockner:

In a 9-2 vote this afternoon, 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 rulings this month, 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. 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: Supreme Court Rules That All States Must Recognize Same-Sex Marriage

The wins keep pouring in! Late this afternoon Mexico's Supreme Court ruled that all 31 states must recognize same-sex marriages performed in the nation's capital, which at the moment is the only place they are legal. Mexico City is a separate federal entity, much like Washington, DC.

In a 9-2 decision, the tribunal cited an article of the constitution requiring states to recognize legal contracts drawn up elsewhere. It did not specify what degree of recognition must be granted to same-sex couples. Mexico City's same-sex marriage law, enacted in March, extends to wedded gay couples the right to adopt children, to jointly apply for bank loans, to inherit wealth and to be covered by their spouses' insurance policies. Some of those may end up applying only in the capital. The Supreme Court ruled last week that same-sex weddings are constitutional — though it is holding separate discussions this week on the adoption clause. One of the justices, Sergio Aguirre, argued against adoptions by same-sex couples Tuesday, saying children might suffer discrimination as a result.

The ruling does not force any of the states to allow gay marriage, but surely helps clears the way for the more liberal parts of the country to move forward.

Is Mexico Next For Marriage Equality?

Today Mexico's Supreme Court ruled 8-2 that the legalization of same-sex marriage in the nation's capital did not violate the Mexican constitution. Mexico City legalized gay marriage in March, but the ruling was challenged with the backing of the Catholic Church. Today's decision not only squashed that challenge, it further stipulated that gay couples were free to adopt. How long before we see the expansion of marriage equality to all of Mexico?

MEXICO: 17 Killed In Mass Slaying At Gay Party, Drug Traffickers Suspected

Seventeen people were murdered at a gay party in the northern Mexico city of Torreon yesterday. The party was advertised on Facebook, where it was noted that while the event was being organized by a gay group, all were welcome. Police say gunmen burst into the room and wordlessly opened fire after blocking the exits. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of the attack being a hate crime, but say they suspect that it was part of Mexico's unending drug war.

It was one of the highest single-incident death tolls since the beginning of Mexico's raging drug war, which has claimed nearly 25,000 lives from the time that President Felipe Calderon launched a military-led offensive against powerful narcotics cartels in December 2006. The dead identified by Sunday afternoon were in their 20s and 30s, some related to one another, according to the prosecutor's office for the state of Coahuila, where Torreon is located. Coahuila borders Texas, and while beset by the same violence terrorizing other border states, has received less publicity. Authorities confirmed the number of dead and said some of the 18 injured were in critical condition. Pictures from the scene showed toppled white plastic chairs, scattered musical instruments and cups and plates and shoes strewn on a blood-splattered floor alongside a tented pool. Empty beer bottles were lined up on tabletops; bullet holes punctured the walls. "The party was ongoing … when gunmen arrived in several vehicles, disembarked and, without uttering a word to those in attendance, opened fire," Jesus Torres, state attorney general, said in a statement. The assailants fled. Investigators recovered 122 spent shells from high-velocity assault rifles.

The identities of the victims have not been released.

Mexico City Offers Free Honeymoon To First Gay-Married Argentine Couple

Mexico City's tourism agency is offering a free honeymoon to the first gay couple to wed under Argentina's just-passed marriage equality law.

The offer was "in recognition of tolerance, but also to promote gay friendly tourism in Mexico City," said Alejandro Rojas, according to a statement. Argentina on Thursday became the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage, following a landmark Senate vote which stirred controversy in the majority Roman Catholic nation. Authorities in the Mexican capital, which legalized gay marriage last year, offered air tickets for the first couple to benefit from the Argentine law, and was seeking sponsorship from hotels and restaurants in Mexico City and the beach resort of Cancun, Rojas said. Around 15 percent of world tourism -- 150 million tourists per year -- is gay friendly, while gay tourists are discerning, respectful and spend 47 percent more than heterosexual tourists, Rojas added.

Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in December.

Tweet Of The Day - Arturo Sarukhan

Rep. Steve King: Arizona Rep Has Already Ceded His District To Mexico

Moronic Rep. Steve King (R-IA) says that since Rep. Raul Grijalva is calling for a boycott of his own state, the U.S. has "already ceded" his district to Mexico. Bonus racist pandering points from Fox host Laura Ingraham in the below clip.

Well, it looks like the case is that, that he's trying to scare the businesses out of Arizona, or he's trying to get the businesses to change their position and press the legislature to reverse the law that was just signed by the governor the other day. I'm wondering if we look at the map of Congressman Grijalva's congressional district if we haven't already ceded that component of Arizona to Mexico judging by the voice that comes out of him, he's advocating for Mexico rather than the United States and against the rule of law, which is one of the central pillars of American exceptionalism.

Bull To Matador: Ole' THIS

One of the world's most famous matadors was brutally injured during a bullfight in Mexico this weekend, prompting renewed calls to ban the "sport." You may not want to watch this.

MEXICANS GET OUT: Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Signs Racist Anti-Immigrant Bill

Facing reelection and desperate to appease teabaggers, Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer has just signed her state's racist anti-immigrant bill.

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer signed into law the nation's toughest legislation against illegal immigration Friday, a sweeping measure that supporters said would take handcuffs off police but which President Barack Obama said could violate people's civil rights. The bill, sent to the Republican governor by the GOP-led Legislature, would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally. It would also require local police officers to question people about their immigration status if there is reason to suspect they are illegal immigrants. Brewer, who faces a tough election battle and growing anger in the state over illegal immigrants, said the law "protects every Arizona citizen," and said the state must act because the federal government has failed.

President Obama has vowed that the federal government will look at ways to overturn the bill on constitutional grounds.

Catholic Bishop: It's All Because Of Porn

Bishop Felipe Arizmendi is blaming the Catholic church's global pedophilia scandal on television and internet porn.

"With so much invasion of eroticism, sometimes it's not easy to stay celibate or to respect children," Bishop Felipe Arizmendi said during an annual meeting of Mexican bishops near Mexico City on Thursday. "If on television and on the Internet and in so many media outlets there is pornography, it is very difficult to stay pure and chaste," said Arizmendi, an influential bishop from the colonial town of San Cristobal de las Casas in southern Mexico. "Obviously when there is generalized sexual freedom it's more likely there could be cases of pedophilia," he added. The bishop was in charge of the formation of priests for two decades in Mexico but said that loose morals in society had made it difficult to keep seminarians committed to the faith.

And then he logged back into Manhunt.

88 Gay Couples Married In Mexico City

So far 88 gay couples have wed under Mexico City's new marriage equality law.

A statement from Mexico City’s government says 50 of the couples were men and 38 women. It said Monday that 37 more gay couples are scheduled to be married between April and June. Mexico City’s legislature passed the first law in Latin America explicitly giving gay marriages in the federal district the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The legislation also allows same-sex couples to adopt children. The law took effect March 4 over criticism by the Roman Catholic Church and a campaign against the measure by President Felipe Calderon’s conservative National Action Party.