Mexico’s congressional committee has rejected a measure that would have legalised same-sex marriage throughout the country.

The measure was defeated 19-8 – with one abstention – in the Commission on Constitutional Matters.

Commission chairman Edgar Castillo Martinez said the vote means the matter is “totally and definitively concluded,” according to a summary published online by the Chamber of Deputies.

The vote will come as crushing blow to Mexican same-sex marriage activists, which comes just months after the country’s President Enrique Pena Nieto proposed the measure.

However, the President suffered a hefty defeat at the polls earlier this year following his proposal, which saw the matter frozen by congressional leaders in his own party.

Mexico has already seen a string of court battles over same-sex marriage, with the Supreme Court last year ruling that it was unconstitutional for states to ban LGBT couples from marrying – leading some Mexican states recognising same-sex marriages.

However, those wishing to marry in states that fail to recognise the law have to sue for the right to do so.

As well as being battered in the polls, the President’s proposal also saw tens of thousands of anti-gay Mexicans to take to the streets in a bid to halt his measure.

The demonstrations were organised by the National Front for the Family – a group of organisations and religious groups staunchly opposed to same-sex marriage.

Despite the protests attracting over 80,000 people in Mexico City, they did face some opposition from an unlikely source, as a young boy bravely stood in their path.

As the crowd marched through the city, the 12-year-old boy leaped in front of them, begging them to stop.