MEXICO: Thousands Protest Gay Marriage

Via the anti-gay LifeSiteNews:

Tens of thousands took to the streets of major Mexican cities under the slogan “Mexico is One for the Children,” to ask the government to respect state constitutions that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman, after a recent Supreme Court ruling legalized same-sex unions throughout the country. “We are not against any person, we are against this Supreme Court imposition,” said Sofia Miranda, one of the organizers, in an open letter to media who were criticizing the cause. This, she continued, “opens the door to gender ideology and will destabilize our society and damage our children. This is what we don’t want.” Marchers were also asking their parental rights be recognized, as Congress is seeking to pass a national law which will “guarantee the access to contraceptive methods” without parental consent to all girls. The law also states all children have a “right to intimacy,” they should not be discriminated against on the basis of their “sexual preference” and that the state will provide “education and services in regards to sexual and reproductive health” to all children.

Same-sex marriage is recognized nationwide but only a handful of Mexico's 31 states have so far enacted the mandated legislation.

Trump Grandstands At Mexican Border

NBC News reports:

Presidential candidate Donald Trump faced questions about immigration policy from reporters Thursday at the U.S.-Mexico border amid roiling controversy about his bombastic style and his controversial remarks about Mexican immigrants. He did not respond to a question from NBC News regarding what he plans to do about the nation's estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants. "First thing we have to do is strengthen our borders and after that we'll have plenty of time to talk about it," he said. Asked if his tour of the border yielded any evidence to support his claim that Mexico is "sending criminals" over the border, Trump promised to produce documentation but offered no details. "We'll be showing you the evidence," he said, declining to elaborate.

RNC Chair Reince Priebus Pleads With Donald Trump: You're Hurting The GOP

Via the Washington Post:

The head of the Republican National Committee, responding to demands from increasingly worried party leaders, spent nearly an hour Wednesday on the phone with Donald Trump, urging the presidential candidate to tone down his inflammatory comments about immigration that have infuriated a key election constituency. The call from Chairman Reince Priebus, described by donors and consultants briefed on the conversation and confirmed by the RNC, underscores the extent to which Trump has gone from an embarrassment to a cause for serious alarm among top Republicans in Washington and nationwide. But there is little they can do about the mogul and reality-television star, who draws sustenance from controversy and attention. And some fear that, with assistance from Democrats, Trump could become the face of the GOP.

Yesterday Trump declared that he has "nothing to apologize for."

Trump Fashion Line Dumps Trump

Fortune reports:

Macy’s. NBC. Nascar. Serta. The PGA. The list of large companies and brands moving to distance themselves from Donald Trump has snowballed since he entered the 2016 Presidential campaign with a racist diatribe against Mexican immigrants. Add one more: Phillips-Van Heusen, the clothing conglomerate behind Trump’s brand of mid-priced menswear. “Mr. Trump and Macy’s have both addressed the discontinuation of the Trump business at Macy’s, which was the exclusive retail account for the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection dress shirt and neckwear collections produced under our license agreement for the brand,” a spokesperson told Forbes exclusively on Tuesday. “We are in the process of winding down this business. The license agreement was scheduled to run through 2018.” PVH Corp. is best known as the parent company behind wildly successful apparel lines including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and Speedo.

PVH is the world's second-largest brand licensor behind Walt Disney. Last year Trump reported $225M in name-licensing revenue. And now, without a licensor, he can't even sell his shirts at the dollar store. (Tipped by JMG reader Elroy)

MEXICO: Activists Protest Istanbul Pride Attack At Turkish Embassy

On Sunday, police attacked Istanbul Pride attendees with tear gas, water cannons, and rubber bullets, reportedly because the event fell during Ramadan. Yesterday about two dozen Mexican activists protested the attack with a demonstration outside the Turkish embassy in Mexico City. JMG reader Alex sends us his photos, noting, "A prayer for Ramadan was performed by a Muslim woman. She did it over a Pride Flag." (The woman was among the protesters.)

Macy's Dumps Trump

Trump Sues Univision For $500M, Mexico And Thomas Roberts Pull Out Of Pageant

For once Donald Trump has followed through with a lawsuit threat:

Donald Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, is suing Univision. The Spanish-language TV network dropped its coverage of Miss USA and Miss Universe — two beauty pageants that Trump co-owns — because of Trump's remarks about Mexican immigrants during his presidential campaign announcement on June 16. NBCUniversal also dropped the pageant programming. NPR's Andrew Limbong reports that Trump is seeking $500 million, and that in the suit, Trump claims Univision is attempting to suppress his freedom of speech. Here's an excerpt from The Trump Organization's statement: "Under the contract, Univision is required to broadcast the pageant live on television in Spanish. While Univision claims its decision came solely in response to comments by Mr. Trump during a June 16 campaign speech announcing his candidacy for President of the United States, the decision was, in reality, a politically motivated attempt to suppress Mr. Trump's freedom of speech under the First Amendment as he begins to campaign for the nation's presidency."

Mexico has pulled out of the pageant.

The Mexican media company Televisa said it will not have a representative in the next Miss Universe pageant. Trump is a partial owner of the Miss Universe Organization, which oversees both the Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants. Televisa and former Miss Universe Lupita Jones help run Nuestra Belleza Mexico, a national pageant that determines the country's contestant for Miss Universe. Jones lashed out at Trump for his "racist comments." "As a Mexican I feel very offended and outraged, like everyone else - as Miss Universe I think Donald Trump is harming the organization," she wrote on Twitter.

Pageant host Thomas Roberts, who was heavily criticized for hosting the 2013 pageant when it was held in Russia, has also pulled out as has co-host Cheryl Burke. On Monday NBC announced it will not air either Miss Universe or Miss USA, which takes place in Baton Rouge on July 11th despite the lack of a broadcasting partner.

Seen At New York City Pride

(Via JMG reader Michael)

Mexican President Celebrates Pride

"We proudly celebrate our diversity. In Mexico we're all equal."

MEXICO: Guerrero Becomes Fourth State To Legalize Same-Sex Marriage

Guerrero yesterday became the fourth Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage. Translation from the link:

In 15 days, in Acapulco the first gay collective wedding will take place, announced Huerta Pegueros, director of the Civil Registry. With the resolution of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, that permits marriages between couples of the same sex, in Guerrero gay marriages will be official as of July 10.

Guerrero is Mexico's 12th most populous state with 3.5M residents. Two weeks ago the northern border state of Chihuahua became the third state. All same-sex marriages are recognized nationwide.

Univision To Trump: You're Fired

CNN reports:

Univision is canceling its telecast of the Miss USA pageant, an event partially owned by Donald Trump, to protest Trump's offensive remarks about Mexicans. Furthermore, Univision says it is severing all other business ties to Trump. Univision is the biggest Spanish-language broadcaster in the United States, so its decision is a blow to the Miss Universe Organization, a joint venture of Trump and Comcast's NBCUniversal division. Last week, in his speech announcing a run for president, Trump deplored immigrants from Mexico who "have lots of problems" and are "bringing those problems to us." "They're bringing drugs, they're bringing crime, they're rapists," he said, adding, "and some, I assume, are good people."

MEXICO: Gay Marriages In Chihuahua To Commence Following Order By Governor

The governor of Chihuahua yesterday declared that same-sex marriages are to commence immediately.

Duarte’s announcement comes ahead of an expected ruling from the Mexican Supreme Court that Proceso said will order Chihuahuan lawmakers to decide the issue of marriage rights for gays and lesbians. The newspaper reported the decision will also require local authorities to compensate the 31 same-sex couples who had sought legal resource, known as an “amparo” in the Mexican judicial system, after they had been denied their request to marry. Alex Alí Méndez Díaz, a lawyer who has spearheaded efforts in support of marriage rights for same-sex couples in Mexico over the last several years, on Thursday applauded Chihuahuan advocacy groups that challenged “their own state and its institutions” over the issue. Chihuahua joins the states of Coahuila and Quintana Roo and Mexico City in which same-sex couples can legally marry.

Chihuahua is Mexico's largest state and ranks 11th in population with 3.7M residents. Same-sex marriages in Mexico are recognized nationwide.

MEXICO: Marriage Rights On The March

Buzzfeed reporter J. Lester Feder today examined the complex and rapidly changing status of same-sex marriage across Mexico's 31 states.

Courts in more than two-thirds of Mexico’s 31 states have granted same-sex couples the right to marry over the past two years in a series of rulings that will likely make marriage equality a reality nationwide in the near future. The wave of rulings throughout Mexico hasn’t caused the uproar that has followed rulings in the United States over the past year striking down state laws barring same-sex couples from marrying. Couples have not rushed to marry nor have conservatives organized major protests.

This is in part because the technicalities of Mexican law have meant these decisions have been much more narrow in their immediate impact. Each decision applies only to the individuals who have brought the cases, and other same-sex couples will still have to sue in order to marry. It takes multiple cases meeting certain technical requirements for the courts to nullify a state law in Mexico — a hurdle that has not yet been met. But with new rulings being announced almost every week — judges in six new states ruled in favor of marriage equality in the first two months of 2015 alone — it seems almost inevitable that this day is coming, say legal experts who have closely followed the litigation.

Same-sex marriages legally conducted in any Mexican jurisdiction are recognized by every state and by the federal government. Hit the first link and read the full report.

MEXICO: Love Wins In Baja California

The first same-sex marriage in the Mexican state of Baja California took place yesterday after a local couple finally prevailed over the hate group that thwarted their wedding last week by charging them with mental illness. Via the San Diego U-T:

Two Mexicali residents became the first same-sex couple to be married in Baja California on Saturday, ending a quest that began nearly two years after they first sought a marriage license. Victor Fernando Urias Amparo, 37, and Victor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza, 43, took their vows amid a crush of media and supporters outside Mexicali City Hall. “Yes we could, yes we could,” the crowd cheered in Spanish. The impromptu wedding ceremony came as a surprise to the pair, who had come to City Hall on Saturday morning to participate in a gay rights demonstration, said their attorney, Jose Luis Marquez. They had received hints that a wedding might take place, but were doubtful. They had already been rejected three times, despite an order from Mexico’s Supreme Court last June. The last try was halted Jan. 10 after officials with the city’s civil registry received a complaint that the men “suffer from madness.” The complaint was filed by a volunteer who gives mandatory premarital talks to couples preparing for civil ceremonies. Earlier, she had refused to certify the couple in her seminar.

Video by Rex Wockner.

MEXICO: Gay Wedding Stalled After Haters Claim Grooms "Suffer From Madness"

As anti-gay activists wearing surgical masks protested outside Mexicali City Hall, the first same-sex wedding in the state of Baja California was thwarted yesterday after a local Christian group filed a legal complaint that the grooms are mentally ill. Via U-T San Diego:

Saturday’s ceremony had been on the civil registry’s calendar for weeks. Hours after a spokesman for the city had confirmed early in the day that the wedding would take place, a top city official said the event had been canceled due to a complaint that the two men “suffer from madness.” The accuser was Angelica Guadalupe Gonzalez Sanchez, president of the Coalition of Baja California Families, who with her husband gives mandatory pre-marital talks to couples preparing for civil wedding ceremonies at Mexicali City Hall. In her complaint, Gonzalez said the pair had been “aggressive and impertinent” on Thursday after she refused to certify their attendance in her talk, and her husband told them that the sessions were intended for heterosexual couples.

One protester, David Mesa, a Christian pastor, said that he was morally and legally opposed to same-sex marriage, “because of what this could mean for the future, such as the adoption of infants, that’s our motive and nothing else.” A top municipal official, Jose Felix Arango Perez, told reporters early Saturday afternoon that “on our part, there were no obstacles. … However, the submission of the complaint by this individual obligates us to suspend the legal ceremony.” He said it is now up to the state’s family court system to resolve the issue. But a member of the Mexicali City Council, Abraham Medina, said, “I think it’s nothing more than an excuse. … They’re just doing this to buy time. I don’t know why they are making these people go through this torment.”

The couple has been attempting to marry for months. Yesterday's ridiculous charge prompted the Twitter hashtag #MisDerechosNoSonLocura - "my rights are not crazy."

UPDATE: Via JMG reader David, here is video of the couple confronting anti-gay activist Angelica Gonzalez Sanchez, who later filed the complaint against them.

Bishop Says Gay Marriage Will Lead To Marrying Dogs & Adopting The Puppies

Bishop Jose Maria de la Torre Martin is very concerned that if his Mexican state of Aguascalientes were to approve its proposed same-sex marriage bill, next will come "allowing a man to marry a dog and they can inherit the puppies." Gay marriage is presently legal in the nation's capital and in the states of Quintana Roo and Coahuila, the last of which saw a massive anti-gay march this weekend following the first same-sex ceremonies. Aguascalientes is the third-smallest of Mexico's 31 states and is about the size of Connecticut.

MEXICO: Thousands Protest Legalization Of Gay Marriage In State Of Coahuila

Tras su aprobación en Coahuila ... 'Incita a la homofobia marcha contra matrimonio gay' http://t.co/a9pkfKWd1P
— Alfredo Galindo (@AlfredoGalindo) September 29, 2014

Via On Top Magazine:

An estimated thirty-thousand people marched Sunday in protest of a new law allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry in the Mexican state of Coahuila. The protest, which took place in the city of Saltillo, the capital and largest city of Coahuila, came a week and a day after a male gay couple inaugurated the law and a day after the state's first lesbian couple exchanged vows. According to El Universal, a “sea of people” flooded the city's major streets demanding the law's repeal. The mega march was organized by the evangelical Cristo Vive Saltillo (Christ Lives Saltillo), one of 18 local chapters of Cristo Vive Mexico. Demonstrators waved banners with an image of a heterosexual family, wore white shirts and chanted “True love is found in mom and dad.”

The state's first lesbian marriage is below.

MEXICO: Another State Legalizes Marriage

Same-sex marriage was legalized yesterday in the Mexican border state of Coahuila. Rex Wockner reports:

For the first time, a Mexican state legislature has voted to legalize same-sex marriage. The Sept. 1 vote by the Congress of the state of Coahuila was 19-1. The new law, which alters more than 40 parts of the state's Civil Code, takes effect in one week. According to reports, the law says, "Marriage is the free union with full consent of two people, which has as its objective to realize community life where both [people] seek respect, equality and mutual aid, and make in a free, responsible, voluntary and informed way reproductive decisions that fit their life project, including the possibility of procreation or adoption."

Coahuila is the 15th most populous of Mexico's 31 states with about three million residents. Same-sex marriage is also legal in the state of Quintana Roo and in Mexico City.

New Yorker Profiles Drag Wrestler

The New Yorker has published a fascinating profile on star Mexican wrestler Cassandro. An excerpt:

At the top of the fun list, for Saúl [Armendáriz], was lucha libre—the flashy, popular Mexican brand of professional wrestling. Every barrio had a small arena where masked heroes (técnicos) and villains (rudos) grappled and whirled and tossed one another around on Sundays. Saúl loved the gaudy costumes. He loved the rowdy, passionate crowds. He idolized the larger-than-life luchadores. He was not a big kid, but he was athletic and quick and in desperate need of an alter ego. “Being gay is a gift from God,” Armendáriz told me recently. That was not his experience as a child. He remembers being brutally punished, at a very young age, for playing patty-cake, a girl’s game, with a like-minded boy at school. His parents, particularly his father, were mortified by his effeminacy. “My dad was a machista,” he said. “He did not want a gay son.” His father, a truck driver, drank; he beat Saúl’s mother. They divorced when Saúl was thirteen. Other kids were also rough. “Boys in the neighborhood, including my own relatives, used me as a sex toy,” he told me. Armendáriz, who is forty-four, stood at a dressing-room mirror in Los Angeles, putting on green-glitter eyeshadow, while recalling these horrors. He did not seem notably detached from, or perturbed by, what he was saying, but somewhere in between. “I am not a victim,” he said firmly. Then he gave a small sigh and started putting on lipstick—fire-engine red. “But I am still so damaged.” He glued on a pair of false eyelashes. He was transforming Saúl into his lucha character, the fabulous world welterweight champion Cassandro.

Louie Gohmert: Send Troops To Mexico

Brian Tashman writes at Right Wing Watch:

Rep. Louie Gohmert is pretty sure that President Obama is pushing for minors to cross the border as part of a giant voter fraud scheme, and thinks that if the president were serious about cracking down on illegal immigration, then he would send troops to the Southern border … and perhaps into Mexico. “If he wanted to, he could do what Woodrow Wilson did,” the Texas congressman told News Talk Florida host Dan Maduri, referring to Wilson’s military intervention in Mexico.