Gay couples from around Mexico come to be legally married

Описание: (21 Mar 2010) AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
1. Couple arriving in civil registry with rainbow flag
2. Zoom out of banner reading (Spanish) "We celebrate our rights"
3. Various shots of homosexual couples kissing
4. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Magdalena Morales, Judge:
"Today, on March 21 2010, we are gathered here, in front of society and under the protection of the law."
5. Homosexual couples applauding, another homosexual couple kissing
6. Wide shot of homosexual couple signing registry book
7. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Magdalena Morales, Judge:
"We are here to carry out this judicial act which is the civil marriage of the following people...."
8. Wide of room
9. Homosexual couple signing registry book and then kissing
10. Pan from another homosexual couple signing register to others waiting to do the same, audience chanting (Spanish) "Yes, we can"
11. Homosexual couple kissing and walking away to their seats
12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Maria Magdalena Morales, Judge:
"In the name of the law and of society, I declare you united in legal marriage with all the rights and duties."
13. Pan to gay couples embracing and kissing
14. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) Adriana Carlos, Lesbian getting married:
"It''s been a long fight, we have been fighting to get this for over five years. We are from Monterrey and we have been together as a couple for nine years. This means a lot to us, this is just the beginning, we know there is a long path ahead of us but we have already been given the first step."
15. Couples leaving the registry, relatives and friends throwing rice at them
STORYLINE
Homosexual couples from across Mexico travelled to the capital to take advantage of Latin America''s first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.
On Sunday in Mexico City, gay couples tied the knot in a civil registry building during a collective ceremony.
29 homosexual couples - 17 gay couples and 12 lesbian couples - signed the marriage register after Judge Maria Magdalena Morales announced them "united in legal marriage with all the rights and duties."
The couples then sealed their unions with a kiss amid cheers from friends, family, and other couples awaiting to do the same.
They hailed from Nuevo Leon, Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Morelos, Queretaro, Chiapas and Nayarit.
Mexico City''s legislature in December passed the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones.
The legislation also allows same-sex couples to adopt children.
For now, the law applies only to residents of Mexico City, though a marriage performed in one Mexican state must be recognised in the rest of the country.
None of Sunday''s couples were residents of the capital but friends and relatives provided them with the proof of address needed to get married in Mexico City.
The documents were all legal, according to the judge and the organisers of the event, and authorities never carry out investigations to verify that the couple really do live in Mexico City, one of the largest conurbations in the world.
Federal prosecutors are attempting to overturn the law, which Mexico City lawmakers argue simply gives same-sex couples the rights that heterosexual couples already have regarding social security and other benefits.
The first same-sex wedding took place on 11 March but Sunday''s ceremony marks a new trend in which gay couples from all over the country can travel to the capital to marry.

Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter:   / ap_archive  
Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​
Instagram:   / apnews  


You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...