A committee in Mexico's lower house of congress has voted down a proposal to legalize same-sex marriage.
In May, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto (above) called for the legalization of gay marriage in accordance with a ruling from 2015 Supreme Court ruling that found a ban to be unconstitutional.
However, on Wednesday the measure was defeated by the Commission on Constitutional Matters in a 19-8 vote.
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In a summary published online by the Chamber of Deputies, commission chairman Edgar Castillo Martinez said the issue is now “totally and definitively concluded,” reports Reuters.
According to the Yucatan Times, during the debate Benajmín Medrano – a member of Nieto's PRI party – came out as gay and said he would be voting in favor of the bill.
https://twitter.com/OaxInformativo/status/796505311515443201
All members of the conservative party PAN voted against the bill, and members of the leftist parties Morena and the PRD voted in support of the bill.
According to a congressional source, although the initiative could technically still move forward this is unlikely to happen.
In September, Pope Francis voiced his support for an anti-gay protest in Mexico which was attended by up to 80,000 people. Later that month, a spokesperson for the Catholic church accused the country's anti-discrimination watchdog of persecution.
