LEÓN, MEXICO, August 26 (C-FAM)  Early reports from participants at the World Youth Conference that commenced this week in León, Mexico are that the conference is the scene of ideological rigidity and yet almost total chaos. There seem to be four conferences going on at once, one for youth, one for governments, one for parliamentarians, and one called the Global Interactive Forum.

A measure of the chaos at the governmental forum is that early yesterday it was announced the president of Mexico would appear and speak. The room gathered, quieted, music played, and then nothing happened and no one explained anything. The president never appeared, at least as of this writing.

Co-authored by Dianelle Martinez

NEW YORK, August 26 (C-FAM)  In the midst of a controversial judicial consideration of homosexual adoption earlier this month, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights ran an ad campaign that appeared to support the effort to overturn Mexico City’s law against homosexual adoption. According the website of the Office of High Commission, an estimated 5 million people a day carried subway tickets with the message, “Embrace diversity; End discrimination.” The purpose of the campaign was to remind citizens of Mexico City that they “are entitled to the full range of human rights.”

In addition to this campaign, the Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang told a Mexico City women’s conference, “Marriage between same-sex individuals is a right which includes the possibility of adopting children.” Kang also said the “UN has always been in favor of the full enjoyment of the rights of all people, regardless of their sexual orientation.”