by Rex Wockner
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
About 150 LGBT people staged a pride march and protest in Tecate, Mexico, Oct. 24. The city, famous for its beer, sits on the California border about 40 miles southeast of San Diego.
The march, the city's first, went down the busiest street and ended at the central plaza. It also was a protest against a state constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriages in Baja California state and seemingly also ban recognition of same-sex marriages from Mexico City, where they are legal.
The amendment passed the state legislature in late September but has been stalled since then. Two days after it passed, control of the legislature switched from one political party to another, in accord with elections that had been held this past summer — and the new ruling party has delayed sending the amendment to the state's five political subdivisions for ratification.
The new party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party, is considered more gay-friendly than the party that lost power, the National Action Party.
A statement from the Baja California State Council on Sexual Diversity suggested that local police were not on their best behavior during the march.
"It is worth mentioning that discrimination and homophobia were clearly visible from the ranks of the city's public-security bureau since they did not heed the call made earlier to safeguard the physical integrity of the participants and traffic control for the full completion of the march," the council said.
