MEXICO CITY, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- Mexico City has approved a sweeping gay rights measure allowing gay couples to marry and adopt children, a decision opponents say is "an aberration."
The city's left-leaning government passed the bill 39-20, with five abstentions, over the vocal opposition of the influential Catholic Church, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.
"This is wonderful," gay rights activist Judith Vasquez said. "Gay couples have effectively been together for years, decades, centuries. But now it is our right."
Mayor Marcelo Ebrard is expected to sign the bill into law, making Mexico City the first city in Latin American to sanction same-sex marriage, the Times said.
In addition to the church, main opposition to the bill came from President Felipe Calderon's conservative National Action Party.
"It is an aberration," activist Jorge Serrano Limon said. "Marriage cannot be between men. That is absurd."
