Beliefs and Ideology Behind the Debate on Sexual Rights in Jalisco, Mexico

Abstract

The social debate in Mexico surrounding same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, and the right to self-determination of gender identity offers important insights into the moral, religious, legal, and cultural frameworks that various social actors mobilize in the struggle for central human rights. The analysis presented here describes the national context in which the discussion takes place, as well as a local focus on the state of Jalisco, given that the research supporting our work was conducted specifically in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara (AMG). This debate, like others that arise when analyzing the processes of building plural and diverse societies, is embedded (and emerges precisely from) in a sociohistorical context deeply rooted in Judeo-Christian traditions, which faces significant processes of modernization and globalization in its political, economic, cultural, and social spheres.