Mexican court upholds adoption by gay couples
August 17th, 2010 - 11:43 am ICT by IANSMexico City, Aug 17 (IANS/EFE) Mexico’s Supreme Court has upheld a Mexico City ordinance allowing same-sex couples to adopt children, saying there was no evidence that homosexuals were worse parents than heterosexuals.
By a vote of 9-2, the judges gave gay and lesbian couples the same rights to adopt children as heterosexual couples.
The move comes close on the heels of an earlier high court ruling upholding a decision to allow same-sex marriage. The court acted in response to a challenge to the Mexico City ordinance filed by the federal Attorney General’s Office.
Only Chief Justice Guillermo Ortiz Mayagoitia and Justice Salvador Aguirre Anguiano were opposed to the ruling.
They said marriage was an institution that existed before the Mexican Constitution which “permanently” joins a man and a woman, with the willingness to “procreate”, something that is broken if adoptions by homosexuals united in marriage are allowed.
Anguiano also argued that there would not be any “superior good of the child” by supporting this type of adoption, but his arguments were rejected by the majority.
“It was not able to be demonstrated that the fact of being raised by homosexual parents harms children, or that homosexual parents would be worse parents than heterosexuals, or that these children would be put at risk, in turn, of becoming homosexuals,” said magistrate Arturo Zaldivar.
Another judge, Margarita Luna Ramos, said the question of adoption was not a matter “of gender” but rather one “of people”. She said the requirements for adopting are all suitable because adoption authorities would take into account personal qualities, education and the level of “commitment” of the couple to the prospective adopted child.
–IANS/EFE
pm/rd
- Luxury hotel for gay tourists to open in Mexico - Dec 29, 2010
- Spanish singer honoured for gay rights work - Mar 06, 2012
- 400 gay marriages registered in Mexico - Sep 07, 2010
- Mexican Supreme Court upholds gay marriages - Aug 12, 2010
- Hundreds of gay, lesbian couples say "I do" in New York (Lead) - Jul 25, 2011
- Brazil approves conjugal visits for gay inmates - Jul 05, 2011
- Obama endorses gay marriage - May 10, 2012
- Argentina legalises same-sex marriage - Jul 16, 2010
- Mexico City legalises same-sex marriage - Dec 22, 2009
- Mexican lawyers promote online divorces - Apr 26, 2012
- 88 same-sex couples marry in Mexico City - Apr 06, 2010
- Netherlands to include same-sex couples in textbooks - Aug 26, 2010
- US military chaplains free to perform same-sex marriages - Oct 01, 2011
- Gay marriage not a human right: European ruling - Mar 21, 2012
- Austrian government approves same-sex partnership rights - Nov 17, 2009
Tags: anguiano, city ordinance, efe, federal attorney general, gay and lesbian couples, gay couples, guillermo ortiz mayagoitia, heterosexual couples, heterosexuals, homosexual parents, homosexuals, magistrate, man and a woman, matter of gender, mexican constitution, mexico city, personal qualities, same sex couples, same sex marriage, zaldivar