Speaking to Reuters news agency, a member of the Front in the city of Queretaro said that the marches were to “awaken society in defence of the family, of natural marriage between a man and a woman”.
Advertisement
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto at World Economic Forum on Latin America 2010. Same-sex marriage is allowed in Mexico City, as well as in Coahuila, Quintana Roo, Jalisco, Nayarit, Chihuahua and Sonora.
The embattled leader, who is grappling with discontent over a slowing economy, conflict of interest scandals, drug gang violence and a visit by U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump that led to his finance minister’s ouster, has opened himself to criticism by asking lawmakers to debate gay marriage.
The powerful image recalls Tank Man, the protester photographed blocking the path of a fleet of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Opponents of marriage rights for same-sex couples in Mexico staged dozens of protests across the country on Saturday.
“It is an example that the advance of this issue requires more effective actions and not just reports and speeches”, he added.
“The scope of these marches is a factor that allows us to evaluate the efficiency of the institutions charged with promoting human rights”, Méndez told the Washington Blade on Sunday.
Sunday’s protesters included activists, members of the LGBT community and family groups supporting the legislation. “That’s why we have to act”. But such laws remain in most states. “They think that they are marching against the possibility that certain types of families exist, but these families already exist”. This moment came to symbolize peaceful dissent in the Communist nation the day after the Chinese military quashed student-led demonstrations for democracy.
Advertisement
A photo of a 12-year-old boy in the middle of the street trying to block thousands of anti-gay protesters in Celaya, Guanajuato, has gone viral.
