MEXICO CITY—Donald Trump’s unexpected victory has so dominated the Mexican news cycle this week that Mexico's congress was able to quietly reject President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide.
Conservative sectors of Mexican society, emboldened by the Catholic Church, have mobilized in recent weeks to push back against efforts to promote LGBTQ rights. The issue went before congress this week, producing all types of senseless arguments in defense of the traditional definition of marriage. On Wednesday, the discussion went from bizarre to ludicrous.
“How will our grandchildren remember us when they see the absurdities that are already being seen in Canada, the Netherlands and England? Real cases of people marrying dolphins, and laptops,” said Norma Edith Martinez, an ultra right-wing congresswoman for the Encuentro Social Party.
Martinez's ideas about MacBook matrimony are being rightfully slammed on Mexican social media, with some people even asking for her removal from office.
“No Edith, just because your husband would rather be married to a dolphin doesn’t mean others want to do it.”
“I didn’t want to marry a dolphin, but a platypus. It’s urgent that we legislate.”
Ella es la diputada que dice que los gays se casaran con delfines, bueno mamíferos más inteligentes que ella @EdithMtzG
— Oscar.Rdz (@oxrodriguez) November 11, 2016
“She’s the congresswoman who says gays will marry dolphins, or mammals that are smarter than her.”
The fight for marriage equality in Mexico is far from over, but the president’s proposal might be, considering it was politicians from his own party who helped strike it down this week in congress.