A conservative congresswoman in Mexico is under heavy criticism for her controversial comment about gay marriage.
During a marriage equality forum in Pueblo earlier this month, Ana María Jiménez Ortiz of the National Action Party (PAN) gave a specific reason as to why gay couples could not marry: They don't face each other during sex.
"A marriage should only be considered amongst people that can look at each other in the eye while having sexual intercourse," Jiménez Ortiz said during the event, according to the Latin Times. "Something that does not happen in homosexual couples."
Apparently, the Mexican congresswoman was relying on the now infamous "New Family Structures Study" conducted by professor Mark Regnerus of the University of Texas.
Released last summer, the academic research found that children of a parent in a same-sex relationship were more likely to experience negative outcomes later in life, as compared to children raised in heterosexual households. Though the study was found to be methodocially flawed, documents obtained through public-records requests later indicated that the research, bankrolled by conservatives, was also designed to manipulate public policy.
After her comment was widely circulated in the media, Jiménez Ortiz faced a slew of attacks on social media. According to SDP Noticias, the congresswoman released a statement on Twitter and apologized that her comment was taken out of context from the panel discussion. However, Jiménez Ortiz stood by her reasoning.
Watch HuffPost Live's discussion of the Mexican congresswoman's comments on gay marriage in the video clip above.
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