Almost done

Merry Christmas readers, hope all is well. I am at home, in Mexico City, enjoying a balmy 19 degrees, so yes its cold, quite cold for Mexico. But it is the day after Christmas and I am done with the two administrative things I needed to get done here, getting my work visa done and renewing my passport. The first one was a sad reminder of the difficulties in the relationship between Mexico and the US, and my personal relationship with my chosen place of residence. Yes it is sad, but I have never felt more violated, in the sense that I had to wait for 4 hours to pay 100 USD and get a visa. Yes I know that is the process, and I am happy in the DC and all that, but when a consulate anywhere in the world puts you through a 5 hour process just to renew a visa, well it pisses you off. But I am done and I am trying to focus on the positive.

Mexico is cold but beautiful, a huge city which plays to my main advantage I love to plan ahead, and in this city, if you do not plan ahead you get nothing done because the distances are so big that one needs to arrange for transportation. So far I have not managed to send the belated Christmas cards, or bought some gifts, but I saw my friends from college and my family.

I was planning on writing this long essay on immigration and stuff, but after getting some lunch and sitting for a bit I have decided that it is not worth it, I just wanted to wish everyone the best for New Years, I hope you all enjoy the reminder of the year and I will see you all back in Washington next week.

Mexico and the Gays

Mexico City, my home town, just passed a Civil Union law. I think it is the first of its kind in Latin America, and it makes me terribly proud. Not that I am in touch with the gays in Mexico, but the fact that it is my country, which is thought of as backwards, and third world, made this bold move is impressive.

There are many caveats to the importance of this law, one of them is that Mexico City is ruled by the PRD – a liberal or leftist party in Mexico, but they are mostly populist – and the fact that it has 20 million people and many other problems makes the passing of this law easier. After all it is small minded people in countries where they have nothing to worry about that focus all their energy on banning gays from marrying, sorry Virginia, but I am talking about you. Still even in this climate where a very “progressive” majority rules Mexico City’s legislation, passing such a law is very moving and effective. It also goes to show how even the all powerful and wealthy Church in Mexico could not stop this, I am not sure how much they applied themselves to oppose it, but I am sure they tried. This is a lesson that us liberals in the US, need to learn, we can not be afraid of the evangelical and the Christians, in Mexico they were able to fight and they won. It helps that there is only one Church (I use capitalization because it is a 2000 year old institution that for years and years dominated Latin America).

So there we go, Viva Mexico!

Disclaimer:

I am no legal expert so I think the law only applies to Mexico City, not sure how marriage is regulated in the Mexican legal system. Hence the lack of analysis of the changes it presents or the way it impacts gays in all of Mexico.