Mexican Attorney General Arturo Chávez appealed to the nation’s Supreme Court on Jan. 27 to block Mexico City’s new law that legalized same-sex marriage and adoption. It is scheduled to take effect in March.

The city’s Legislative Assembly passed the law 39-20 on Dec. 21. It redefines marriage as “the free uniting of two people.”

Chávez’s office claimed the law runs afoul of vague language in the federal constitution that says: “Men and women are equal before the law. The law will protect the organization and development of the family.” The office also claimed the law fails to safeguard the interests of children.

City officials have said they hope gay couples will come from around the world to get married. The city is working with travel agencies to offer packages that include flights, hotel, sightseeing, a wedding and a banquet.

Same-sex marriage also is legal in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Spain and Sweden; in Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego province; and in the U.S. states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. It will become legal in March in Washington, D.C., and in Portugal later this year.

President Barack Obama denounced the Ugandan “kill the gays” bill in an address to the U.S. National Prayer Breakfast on Feb. 4.

“We may disagree about gay marriage, but surely we can agree that it is unconscionable to target gays and lesbians for who they are – whether it’s here in the United States or, as Hillary (Clinton) mentioned, more extremely in odious laws that are being proposed, most recently in Uganda,” Obama said.

The pending legislation, the “Anti-Homosexuality Bill 2009,” would imprison for life anyone convicted of “the offense of homosexuality,” punish “aggravated homosexuality” – including repeat offenders and anyone who is HIV-positive and has gay sex – with the death penalty, forbid “promotion of homosexuality” and incarcerate gay-rights defenders, and jail individuals for up to three years if they fail to report within 24 hours the existence of all GLBT people and GLBT sympathizers they know of.

The Prayer Breakfast is hosted by members of Congress and organized by the Fellowship Foundation, a behind-the-scenes conservative Christian group also known as The Family.

The group counts several congressmen as members and has “close ties” with the Ugandan bill’s sponsor, according to The New York Times. MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow has explored the linkages in an ongoing series of reports over the past several months.

The government of Macedonia unveiled revised anti-discrimination legislation Jan. 29 that deleted sexual orientation as a covered ground.

Deputy Minister for Social Policy Spiro Ristovski downplayed the change, saying GLB people still would be protected via a category of “other grounds” that applies to everyone.

Conservative forces had pressured the government to drop the “sexual orientation” language.

The European Parliament’s Intergroup on LGBT Rights denounced the deletion.

“If Macedonia is serious about joining the European Union, it must ensure that its laws match those of the European Union – and that explicitly includes nondiscrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation,” said Intergroup Co-President Michael Cashman. “There is no opt-out on fundamental rights.”

Human Rights Watch’s Boris Dittrich said: “Silence equals inequality. Vague references to ‘other grounds’ simply aren’t good enough.”

Countries that want to join the EU are required to specifically protect GLB people from discrimination – and citizens of member nations that procrastinate in doing so are denied the perk of visa-free travel within the EU.

The London GLBT group OutRage! on Feb. 1 announced a dual legal challenge to the British bans on same-sex marriage and opposite-sex civil partnerships.

Several gay and straight couples will file a joint application to the European Court of Human Rights, the group said.

“The aim is to secure full equality in civil marriage and civil-partnership law,” said veteran activist Peter Tatchell. “We want both systems open to all couples, gay and straight.”

Civil partnerships and marriage carry the same rights and obligations in the United Kingdom, but under different laws and names.

Canada’s minister of transport, infrastructure and communities, John Baird, was outed on a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation live radio program Feb. 2.

Host Andy Barrie asked guest Pamela Taylor, a Progressive Conservative candidate for the Ontario Legislative Assembly, “Can you think of a single openly gay politician in the Conservative party, federally or provincially?”

Taylor replied: “Openly gay? John Baird.”

“Thank you. You got me,” Barrie responded.

“There are many others,” Taylor said.

“That was really dumb of me,” said Barrie. “I let you walk right into me there.”

Baird is not openly gay but “is a familiar face in gay social circles in Ottawa (and has) attended Ottawa’s Pride parties,” said the Xtra! chain of Canadian gay newspapers.

A day later, Xtra! added: “(W)hen he’s not answering media questions, he is pretty frank about his sexuality (officially: whatever his sexuality is).”

Baird did not respond to requests for comment on the incident.

Taylor lost the election Feb. 4, coming in third. Openly gay Liberal Glen Murray, the former mayor of Winnipeg, won the seat, replacing openly gay Liberal George Smitherman, the former Ontario deputy premier, who stepped down in November to run for mayor of Toronto.

There are 24 candidates registered for the Oct. 25 mayoral election.

Assistance by Bill Kelley