Mexican bishop
says first same-sex civil union is "a disgrace"

Mexico's first same-sex civil union has upset a Roman Catholic bishop in the state where it occurred.

Bishop Alonso Garza of Piedras Negras, a town in the state of Coahuila, said Friday that Mexico's first same-sex civil union--which occurred Wednesday in his state's capital of Saltillo--was ''a disgrace'' and ''a show.''

Karla Lopez and Karina Almaguer, both of Matamoros, across from the border from Brownsville, Texas, became the first gay couple in Mexico to register a civil union, taking advantage of a Coahuila state law approved in January.

''This is a disgrace,'' Garza said, and he lamented that the state had attracted international attention for ''this kind of situation.''

Coahuila is the only one of Mexico's 31 states to recognize such unions, though a similar measure takes effect in mid March in Mexico City, which has most of the same powers as a state.

The Coahuila law provides gay couples with numerous social benefits similar to those of married couples.

''We have always said we respect [homosexuals'] way of thinking, but we are definitely against this show,'' Garza said of the media frenzy stirred up by the first union.

The conservative National Action Party of President Felipe Calderon has joined the Roman Catholic Church in Mexico in strongly criticizing the laws in Coahuila state and Mexico City. (AP)