It was a sight to see: Tens of thousands of people dressed mainly in white, marching as they held banners warning against same-sex marriage and demanding parents' right to control sex education in schools.
The massive protest took place in Mexico City on Saturday, one of the largest protest marches in Mexico in recent years, USA Today reports. Organisers estimated that at least 215,000 people joined the rally.
The protest action was spurred by President Enrique Pena Nieto's push to legalise same-sex marriage throughout Mexico. Same-sex marriage is currently legal only in some places including Mexico City.
Organisers clarified that they are not opposing gay or lesbian rights, saying they are only defending family values and the institution of marriage, according to the BBC.
"We are not against anybody's (sexual) identity," said Abraham Ledesma, an evangelical pastor who came from McAllen, Texas, to participate in Saturday's march. "What we are against is the government imposition ... of trying to impose gender ideology in education. As religious leaders, we don't want to be forced to marry same-sex couples and call it marriage."
Leaders of the National Front for the Family, which organised the march, said they are not opposed to LGBT rights.
They pointed out, however, that Mexico has become a victim of an ideological battle that threatens family values and the institution of marriage.
"In a democratic society you cannot impose a single thought," said Mario Alberto Romo, a spokesman for the group.
Gay and lesbian activists staged rival but far smaller protests. Some of them carried banners that read: "I'm gay and I'm a Catholic" and "We also have families."
Public opinion in Mexico, a predominantly Roman Catholic nation, has been divided since Pena Nieto announced in May plans to change the constitution to legalise same-sex marriages.
Last year, the Supreme Court declared that a ban on such marriages imposed in many of Mexico's states was unconstitutional.
Four Latin American countries have already legalised same-sex marriage: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and most recently Colombia.
