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The Supreme Court ruled last week that same-sex weddings are constitutional – though it is holding separate discussions this week on the adoption clause.  One of the justices, Sergio Aguirre, argued against adoptions by same-sex couples during the ruling, saying children might suffer discrimination as a result.  While the court made it clear that state governments were not obligated to enact same-sex marriage laws of their own, it did require them to recognize the legality of such marriages performed in Mexico City.  "What's going to happen to a same-sex couple" who marry in Mexico City "when they cross the border" to another state, asked Justice Arturo Zaldívar, who voted with the majority, during Tuesday's discussions. "Does this marriage disappear? They go on vacation and they're no longer married?"  The possibility of having to recognize same-sex marriages from Mexico City had provoked outrage from state governments belonging to the right-leaning National Action Party, which governs nationally, and drew accusations that the left-leaning Mexico City government was establishing civil-registry regulations for the rest of the country.  The court decision leaves uncertainty about which marital rights must be recognized by state governments.

But Arturo Pueblita Fernández, a constitutional law professor at the Ibero-American University in Mexico City, said that fundamental spousal rights would apply to same-sex couples across the country, including alimony payments, inheritance rights and the coverage of spouses by the federal social security system, which provides health and pension benefits to most of Mexico's working population.  The court must still decide whether another part of the law, which allows same-sex couples married in Mexico City to adopt children, is constitutional. If it is, it is unclear whether such adoptions would have to be recognized throughout the country as one of the rights of same-sex couples.  Opponents of same-sex marriage, including the leader of Mexico City's Roman Catholic Archdiocese, Cardinal Norberto Rivera, have voiced their displeasure with the law. 

Since 2001, twelve countries (Argentina, Brazil, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, South Africa, Sweden) recognize same-sex marriages nationwide. 

Brazil upgraded the recognition of civil unions among same sex couples to full marriage. The first gay marriage was celebrated in Brazil overnight after a court gave its blessing to the couple living together for eight years, local media said. Sergio Kauffman Sousa and Luiz Andre Moresi were wed at a family court in Jacarei, in the Sao Paulo state in southeast Brazil.On June 6, 2011 they had asked the court to convert their civil union, which was granted last May, into a marriage. With the marriage certificate in hand, Mr Sousa and Mr Moresi announced that they will ask for new identity documents with the same family name: Sousa Moresi. "Its an immense happiness. I keep trying to comprehend that this a historic moment. We have fought for years, and now that it has arrived, we are in ecstasy," Mr Moresi said.

This new law would put Mexico one step closer to making that list.  Read more about Marriage Equality:

President Obama Supports Marriage Equality

"Proposition 8" a Play with George Clooney and Brad Pitt

Federal Court Rules Unconstitutional California's Ban on Same Sex Marriage

Archie Features Gay Sex Marriage