12 نوامبر, 2006 - Published 11:46 GMT

Mexico gay unions

The bill, which grants same sex couples the same social benefits extended to heterosexual married couples, such as inheritance and pension rights, was approved by a vote of forty-three to seventeen. It was backed by the left-wing PRD party which controls the city's legislative assembly but opposed by the governing conservative PAN party and the Catholic Church in Mexico, which has condemned gay marriages and same sex unions as going against the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage, which it maintains should only be between a man and a woman.

And although the new law recognises civil unions between gay and heterosexual couples, it doesn't recognise the right of gay people to go through an official marriage ceremony.

That hasn't stopped gay rights groups in Mexico from celebrating. They've heralded the approval of the bill as an important sign that the traditionally Catholic country was shedding its ultra-religious machista image. The leader in Mexico City of the left-wing PRD party, Marti Batres, described the move as a first step, which he said could lead to a national debate on same sex unions and similar legislation being approved in other parts of the country.

In fact, a civil unions bill is currently being debated by the local congress in the northern state of Coahuila, on the border with Texas. But the power of the Church in Mexico, the second largest Catholic country in the world, guarantees that the approval of such measures will be met with strong opposition.

Emilio San Pedro, BBC

backed by
توسط ... حمايت شد

legislative assembly
شورای قانونگذاری

the sanctity of the sacrament of marriage
اهميت و ارزش دينی ازدواج که بايد محفوظ بماند

to go through
در اينجا: داشتن

heralded the approval of the bill
علنا منادی تصويب قانون جديد بوده اند

was shedding its ultra-religious machista image
وجهه مذهبی و سنت گرای خود را از دست می دهد

a national debate
مناظره ای علنی در سراسر کشور

border
مرز

measures
در اينجا: قوانين جديد

met with strong opposition
با مخالفت شديد (مردم) روبرو شد