The Mexican state of Coahuila, which borders Texas, passed a civil-union law for same-sex couples Jan. 11.

The state Congress approved the measure 20-13. It was introduced by the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party, or PRI, which ruled Mexico for more than 70 years until the election of former President Vicente Fox in 2000.

Expressing support for the bill, Coahuila PRI Gov. Humberto Moreira said, “It would be discriminatory not to ... respect the rights of every person regardless of sexual affiliation.”

The law extends most of the rights of matrimony to registered same-sex couples.

Coahuila is known for mining and ranching. Its capital city is Saltillo.

The only other locale in Mexico with a same-sex partnership law is Mexico City. That measure passed the city’s Legislative Assembly 43-17 with 5 abstentions last November. It grants spousal rights in areas such as property, pensions, inheritance, medical decisions and co-parenting. Heterosexual couples and nonsexual couples also can register under the law.

Other Latin American localities with same-sex civil-union laws include Buenos Aires, Argentina; the Argentine province of Río Negro; and the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

The best-known gay activist in Matamoros, Mexico, was found stabbed to death in his home Jan. 15.

José Ernesto Leal López, 42, was killed just days after staging a press conference calling for the state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas, to pass a same-sex partnership law similar to those passed in Mexico City and in the border state of Coahuila.

Leal López also recently had demanded that Matamoros police stop allegedly arresting residents because of their homosexual orientation and charging them $84 to be released.

But a police department spokesperson said the killing appeared to be solely “a crime of passion,” noting that there were no signs of forced entry and that there was blood throughout the house.

On Jan. 19, the Hoy Tamaulipas Web site reported that openly gay federal congressmember David Sánchez Camacho, who serves on a congressional commission concerned with “vulnerable groups,” had arrived in Matamoros to challenge the “crime of passion” theory.

“Enough with wanting to solve this crime by saying it was passion and wanting to sweep it under the carpet when we could be facing an antigay hate crime,” Sánchez Camacho said. “We’ve come all the way to Tamaulipas to learn the realities of life for people like us on this border.”

Matamoros is across the Rio Grande from Brownsville, Texas.

The gay group that worked 17 years to pass a civil-union law in the Czech Republic has closed up shop, saying its work is done.

Gay Initiative chair Jirí Hromada told The Prague Post, “I don’t want to say that everything has been accomplished, but our priorities have been achieved.”

More than 200 same-sex couples have taken advantage of the civil-union law since it came into force last July. The statute, which became law after the Chamber of Deputies overrode President Vaclav Klaus’s veto, grants many of the rights and obligations of marriage but withholds equality in the areas of adoption, pensions, taxation and joint ownership of property.

Other activist groups, including the Gay and Lesbian League, will pick up the slack resulting from Gay Initiative’s dissolution.

“The reality is that the [partnership] law is not ideal,” the league’s Martin Strachon told the Post.

He said the group will seek parity with heterosexuals in the areas of adoption, property rights, income tax and fast-track immigration.

About 150 gays and lesbians picketed the Vatican Jan. 13, protesting against Pope Benedict XVI’s outspoken opposition to civil-union and same-sex-marriage laws.

The protest marked the day nine years ago when a gay man, Alfredo Ormando, set himself alight in St. Peter’s Square to protest Roman Catholic homophobia. Ormando died 10 days later from his injuries.

The Vatican has expressed hostility to the Italian government’s promise to introduce a civil-union bill into Parliament by the end of January.

The measure is expected to cover areas such as health insurance, health care decisions, hospital and prison visitation, inheritance, immigration, transfer of leases, and alimony.

Prime Minister Romano Prodi told local media that such a law would be a “fundamental step forward.”

South Africa became the sixth nation to legalize same-sex marriage on Dec. 1, but many gay couples have been unable to tie the knot because a government agency is moving too slowly in certifying celebrants.

Reports said some marriage officers have heard nothing back from the Department of Home Affairs, six weeks after submitting their applications to take the exam they must pass before marrying same-sex-couples.

Buenos Aires’ metrosexual mayor, Jorge Telerman, has again assured the city he’s not gay.

“I laugh at the comments about my being gay,” he said Jan. 15 in an interview with La Nación. “I feel that homophobia is aberrant, but, even so, for those thinking about a dirty campaign [against me], I’m sorry to say that I’m not homosexual.”

But, he added, “Every time I hear about antigay discrimination, I have the urge to say that I’m homosexual.”

In an earlier interview, Telerman labeled himself “afrancesado,” which translates as Frenchified or “foofy.”

“[The word ‘afrancesado’] just came out of me,” he told La Nación. “And I never thought it would have the repercussions that it did. But it doesn’t bother me. Even when my friends ask me if I’m gay, I laugh.”

Assistance: Bill Kelley