Same-sex marriages could start in Portugal in May.

Parliament finalized and passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage on February 11.

The law was sent to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva on March 5.

On March 13, Cavaco Silva sent it to the Constitutional Court for review.

The court must act on the review by April 8.

The bill then will return to the president, who will have 20 more days to mull it over.

If he signs it, it becomes law. If he vetoes it, Parliament is expected to pass it again, which would then force Cavaco Silva to sign it.

Same-sex couples started marrying in Mexico City on March 11.

The first same-sex weddings took place in the Municipal Palace with Mayor Marcelo Ebrard and numerous other officials in attendance.

The federal government is challenging Mexico City’s legalization of gay marriage, but the case likely will not see any action by the Supreme Court for more than a year.

The Mexico City government’s Web site says that to get married in Mexico City, “requirements” include that the couple “be residents of the Federal District” and present the original and a copy of proof of domicile issued within the past three months. It does not say what qualifies as proof. News reports have mentioned such things as utility bills and have suggested that the requirement does not seem to be strictly enforced.

The same page of the Web site explains what is required for “foreigners” to marry in Mexico City. If only one of the individuals is a foreigner, he or she must present “authorization issued by the Secretary of Governance to marry.” But, “When both parties are foreigners, permission from the Secretary of Governance is not required.”

The Web site’s information seems at odds with media statements by Mexico City officials, who have said they hope gay couples will come from around the world to get married and that the city is working with travel agencies to offer packages that include flights, hotel, sightseeing, a wedding and a banquet.

There are no differences between same- and opposite-sex marriage in Mexico City, and the city’s Web site contains otherwise identical PDF forms for “him/her,” “him/him” and “her/her” marriages.

The Web site of the U.S. Embassy in Mexico City, under the heading “American Citizens Services - Marriage and Divorce in Mexico,” says: “You should contact the office of the Registro Civil in the jurisdiction where you plan to get married for complete information about the requirements. A marriage that is properly executed in Mexico is valid in the United States provided the marriage would be legal in the United States.”

A marriage contracted legally anywhere in Mexico also is supposed to be recognized everywhere in Mexico, but some Mexican states have taken recent steps to attempt to avoid recognizing gay marriages from Mexico City.

It is not known how those conflicts will play out.

An English-language Google search for “getting married in Mexico” produced tens of thousands of hits clearly aimed at nonresident foreigners.

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 Washington, D.C., and the states of Connecticut, Iowa, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont. It will become legal later this year in Portugal.

A 27-year-old man in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was sent to jail for a year, fined $1,330, and will be lashed 1,000 times for appearing in a gay-themed video.

Ahmad al-Faqih was charged with impersonating a police officer, being a homosexual and committing a general-security offense.

The amateur, three-minute production shows al-Faqih dressed as a cop, asking for someone’s driver’s license, and demanding “physical comfort” to let the driver go free. He opens his shirt, plays with his chest and dances around suggestively to club music while holding a gun.

The video reportedly raced around Saudi Arabia via the Internet and cell phones. See it at tinyurl.com/saudivid.

Slovenia has seen its first convictions leading to imprisonment in an anti-gay hate-crime case.

Three men will spend 18 months in jail for attacking the Ljubljana lesbian bar Café Open during a pride week event last June.

Along with several other men, they threw rocks, yelled anti-gay slurs and beat gay activist Mitja Blazic, who suffered head injuries as well as burns from the attackers’ torches.

The Ljubljana District Court found the three guilty of instigating hatred, violence and intolerance on the basis of sexual orientation.

The men’s lawyers said the verdict will be appealed.

Fifty members of Lithuania’s Parliament have petitioned the Prosecution Office to stop the Vilnius city government from permitting a gay pride parade in May.

The MPs say the parade would violate the new “Law on the Protection of Minors Against the Detrimental Effect of Public Information.”

The law, which took effect March 1, bans information that promotes sexual relationships, “denigrates family values” or encourages a nonheterosexual concept of marriage and family. Such information is prohibited wherever it could be accessed by a minor.

The petition states: “It is obvious that one of the aims of the parade ... is the promotion of the organization (Lithuanian Gay League) and attraction of new members – also the demonstration of a positive attitude towards nontraditional families. Therefore, the parade may be treated as the dissemination of public information.”

The MPs said the parade also could provoke anti-gays to riot.

Assistance: Bill Kelley