400,000 Mexicans Protest Homosexual Marriage, Pope Francis Lends Support

By | September 29, 2016

MEXICO CITY, September 29 (C-Fam) Last week, 400,000 Mexicans took to the streets in their nation’s capital to oppose the President Enrique Peña Nieto’s plan to impose homosexual marriage on the country.

The President’s project of constitutional reform would extend to homosexual couples all the benefits and rights that both national and international law have always reserved to the family formed by a man and a woman. Peña Nieto also proposed an amendment to the Civil Code allowing for homosexual adoptions.

The pro-LGBT stance of the Mexican Government is a radical departure from Mexican law and policy and reveals a gap between attitudes of ruling elites and the rest of the population. Under the Peña administration, Mexico joined the “Equal Rights Coalition” (ERC), a group of thirty countries pledging to promote the LGBT rights agenda worldwide. It is unlikely, however, that the Mexican people themselves embrace the stance of the government.

Mexican media ran a vehement counter-campaign in the weeks prior to the march. There were reports of veiled threats by the government that foreign participants in the national rally could be arrested. Even so, Mexicans flooded to their capital, coloring it in white, and quadrupling the expected turnout. A few weeks earlier one million Mexicans had rallied for the family in protests in 127 Mexican cities.

The initiatives were organized and led by the “National Front for the Family” (FNF), a coalition of more than a thousand civil society organizations committed to the defense of life and family.

The Mexican Bishops’ Conference approved and encouraged the activities of FNF. On Sunday, Pope Francis himself spoke in favor of the Mexican pro-family movement. The Pope told the thousands of people gathered for the Angelus in Rome that he stood with the Mexican Bishops.

The FNF is also promoting a constitutional amendment to explicitly define marriage as the union of a man and a woman, and another to reaffirm the prior right of parents to educate their children,

President Peña Nieto suggested his controversial reforms last May, at a time when his approval rating was of 30%, the lowest for a Mexican President since 1995. That has dropped to 22%. In a similar case, Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, whose approval rating is at an historic low, has just launched a campaign for recognition of “gay-marriage”. Chile already recognizes same-sex unions. In Argentina, President Kirchner introduced gay marriage as a human rights issue as a way to improve political support and diminish the popularity and authority of the Church, which was led at the time by Pope Francis.

In support of the Mexican rally, activists protested outside Mexican embassies throughout the world this week.  Cecilia, a Mexican student now interning in Washington, D.C. where she is now serving in an internship.  “In Mexico, there has been a lot of confrontation and misunderstandings in these past few days, without any serious public dialogue,” she told the Friday Fax, “But seeing people of different countries, different beliefs, coming together for the family, and standing with Mexico in this historic moment is inspiring; and it gives me hope!”

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