By Leah Dearborn
On Monday, February 18, the Mexican Supreme Court officially ruled anti-gay marriage law to be unconstitutionally discriminatory. Buzzfeed reports:
The ruling not only makes a strong statement about Mexican law’s treatment of equal protection guarantees, it also relies heavily on civil rights rulings handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court. Although several justices of the American court take pride in not caring what foreign courts say, any who read the Mexican decision will find the court makes an impassioned case for the United States to follow its lead.
Writing for a unanimous tribunal, Minister Arturo Zaldívar Lelo de Larrea invoked the U.S. cases Loving v. Virginia and Brown v. Board of Education to argue for marriage equality in a way that American activists would be overjoyed to see from a justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
States Redefine Marriage Laws
The ruling comes as several U.S. states are poised to vote on gay marriage bills. On Wednesday, The Religious Freedom and Marriage Fairness Act will go before the Illinois House of Representatives, where it is generally expected to pass.
Just across the Mexican border, Texan State Representative Garnet Coleman is also attempting to repeal the ban on same sex marriage. Only 36 percent of residents in the conservative Lone Star State support same gender marriage. Despite this, Coleman remains optimistic, and was quoted by upi.com saying,
“What better time to start to repeal the ban on same-sex civil unions and marriage than the present?” he asked. “It’s not whether [the repeal] happens, it’s when it happens.”
Many conservative groups in Texas, however, feel confident that the Republican state Legislature remains firmly in favor of the ban.
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