MEXICO CITY (AP) — Throngs of Mexico City gay and lesbian couples registered for marriage licenses Thursday, the day Latin America’s first gay-marriage law took effect.
The first gay weddings will take place within a week to 10 days, after the paperwork is processed.
Mexico City’s legislature approved the first law explicitly giving gay marriages the same status as heterosexual ones in December. The change will allow same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, rights they were denied under civil unions allowed in the city.
"This is great, it is a feeling of relief, of celebration, everything," said Daniel Ramos, 20, a medical student planning to marry his boyfriend, Temistocles Villanueva, on March 12.
"For Latin America, this is not only a precedent, but an example to follow," he added.