Mexico City opens prisons to gay conjugal visits

MEXICO CITY – Mexico City’s prison system has begun to allow gay conjugal visits, bowing to a recommendation by the country’s National Human Rights Commission, the commission announced on Sunday.

The city’s leftist government has taken a series of controversial stands in recent months on social issues like abortion, gay marriage and prostitution, despite opposition from conservatives and religious organizations.

“The Mexico City department of prisons and rehabilitation has allowed the first conjugal visit to an inmate with a sexual orientation other than heterosexual,” the government-funded rights commission said in a news release. It called the move “an important step in terms of nondiscrimination regarding sexual preference.”

In many Mexican prisons, inmates are allowed to receive conjugal visits, and most do not require the visitor to be married to the inmate.

The decision was prompted by a complaint filed by a man identified only as “Agustin N.,” who said he wanted to visit his companion, “Ricardo N.,” at the Santa Martha Acatitla prison on the city’s east side.

Agustin filed a complaint with the rights commission – which has the power to make recommendations but not to enforce them – saying prison authorities had denied his request because the two are gay.

On Feb. 8 the commission ruled that was discrimination, and prison authorities decided to allow the visit. The statement did not say when.

The leftist party that governs Mexico City has already legalized gay civil unions and abortion in the capital of this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country, and has proposed legalizing prostitution, which is currently punishable here by 12 to 24 hours in jail and small fines.

Mexico as a whole adopted a law in 2003 banning discrimination based on sexual preference.