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The Mexico City government has approved a far-reaching gay rights bill, voting to allow people of the same sex to marry and to adopt children.

Turning aside opposition from the Catholic Church, the capital city's leftist-dominated legislature approved the measure in a 39-20 vote.

The vote changed the definition of marriage in the city's civil code from being between a man and a woman to "the free uniting of two people".

Monday's measure was adopted after two hours of heated debate in which legislators publicly questioned one another's sexual preferences and activities.

"For centuries unjust laws banned marriage between blacks and whites or Indians and Europeans. Today all barriers have disappeared," legislator Victor Romo, a member of the left-leaning majority, told the Associated Press.

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Photo: Reuters