Mexican Supreme Court: Homophobic Language Is Offensive & Discriminatory

By a 3-2 vote, the Mexican Supreme Court has ruled that homophobic language and words such as "maricones" (faggots) are offensive and not covered by freedom of expression laws.  Andres Duque has a translation at Blabbeando:

The First Chamber determined that homophobic expressions or - in other words the frequent allegations that homosexuality is not a valid option but an inferior condition - constitute discriminatory statements even if they are expressed jokingly, since they can be used to encourage, promote and justify intolerance against gays.

For this reason, the Chamber determined that the terms used in this specific case - made up of the words "maricones" and "puñal" - were offensive. These are expressions which are certainly deeply rooted in the language of Mexican society but the truth is that the practices of a majority of participants of a society cannot trump violations of basic rights.

Like with the Whatcott case in Canada, we'll likely never see such a ruling in the United States. Hit the link for more.