Mexico congressional committee nixes constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage

A committee in Mexico's lower house of congress has voted down a proposal by President Enrique Pena Nieto to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide. The measure seeking to enshrine in the constitution same-sex couples' right to wed was defeated 19-8 Wednesday in the Commission on Constitutional Matters. According to a summary published online by the Chamber of Deputies, commission chairman Edgar Castillo Martinez said the vote means the matter is "totally and definitively concluded." Mexico's Supreme Court ruled last year that it was unconstitutional for states to bar same-sex marriage. But that decision did not have the effect of rewriting any laws on the books, and such marriages remain legal only in some jurisdictions. Pena Nieto made the proposal in May. Mexico later saw large demonstrations both in favor and against. Original Source: