Posted: Sep. 11, 2016 7:00 am Updated: Sep.
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A coalition of various religious groups and other organizations, called the National Front for the Family, urged Mexicans to protest President Enrique Pena Nieto’s legislation to allow gay marriage in marches Saturday.
Marco Tulio Mendoza, director of the National Front for the Family, the chief organizers of the protest, said the group recorded more than 100 marches across the country.
While same-sex marriage is not legal across the country, several states and Mexico City now have laws allowing same-sex couples to marry.
However, the initiative has yet to take concrete steps to nationwide same-sex marriage since Nieto’s party suffered losses in midterm elections in June.
“This comes as the government is showing a certain sort of fragility in other areas… and they’re taking advantage of the moment”, Sanchez added.
By mid-day on Saturday, an estimated 40,000 people converged on the city of Queretaro in central Mexico, during a peaceful 3 to 4 kilometer march through the city, one of the largest gatherings in the country, Civil Protection officers said.
In May, Pena Nieto proposed a change in the Mexican constitution to allow gay couples to marry nationally.
In Monterrey, counter protesters sang and read poetry to show support to the Mexican gay community.
Jesus Gonzales, a human rights activist said that the march was “discriminatory” and he hopes “it doesn’t have success”.
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Mexico’s Supreme Court previous year said that laws limiting marriage to between a man and a woman were unconstitutional.
