Mexico’s Supreme Court upheld a landmark law this week, permitting same-sex marriages in Mexico City, and rejecting the conservative federal government’s claim that the law is unconstitutional because it threatens the institution of the family.

(Sound familiar?)

The justices’ 8-2 ruling handed a legal victory to hundreds of same-sex couples who have been married in Mexico’s capital since the landmark law took effect March 4. When approved last December, it was the first law in Latin America explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones, including adoption.

Mexico City’s law is an anomaly in the predominantly Roman Catholic country, where the church hierarchy and the ruling center-right National Action Party have vehemently opposed same-sex marriage.

Since the law took effect in March, 320 same-sex couples have married in the Mexican capital.

While the supreme court decided gay marriage was constitutional, it will review the adoption clause next week.

Thursday’s ruling was greeted as another victory in the international gay-rights community, coming just one day after a U.S. federal judge struck down Proposition 8, California’s voter approved ban on gay marriage.

Last month, Argentina passed a law allowing gay marriage nationwide, becoming the first country in Latin America to legalize same-sex marriage

Tags: Courts, Marriage Equality, Mexico, Mexico City

Filed under: North America