http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/12/21/mexico.gay.marriage/index.htmlWhile the event seems to be largely good, the general reaction to it (as I have heard anecdotally) is quite curious. There seems to be a degree of disbelief in America along these lines: "how could Mexico,
Mexico for crying out loud, be more forward thinking than the U.S.?"
There is a level of justified amazement, given the high Catholic population of Mexico in general. However, Americans often look down on Mexico (and anything south of the border, really) as backwater and so a civil justice being realized anywhere there before it is common in America strikes such people as an outrage. We Americans are obsessed about being first. First to land on the moon, first among "equals" in the UN, first in Olympic gold, etc. I wonder if this obsession, which turned to distasteful bigotry in reaction to Mexico City's achievement, couldn't be capitalized. We've already lost the "race" to have a female head of state, but if social justice could be cast as a race to win, might not more Americans get on board?
