Same-sex marriage in Tabasco

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Same-sex marriage has been legal in Tabasco since 27 October 2022. A bill to legalise same-sex marriage was passed by the Congress of Tabasco on 19 October 2022. [1] It was signed by Governor Carlos Manuel Merino Campos, and published in the official state journal on 26 October, taking effect the next day. [2] [3] Tabasco was the fourth-to-last state in Mexico to legalize same-sex marriage.

Contents

Background

The Mexican Supreme Court ruled on 12 June 2015 that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional nationwide. The court's ruling is considered a "jurisprudential thesis" and did not invalidate state laws, meaning that same-sex couples denied the right to marry would still have to seek individual amparos in court. The ruling standardized the procedures for judges and courts throughout Mexico to approve all applications for same-sex marriages and made the approval mandatory. Specifically, the court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage violate Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. Article 1 of the Constitution states that "any form of discrimination, based on ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disabilities, social status, medical conditions, religion, opinions, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other form, which violates the human dignity or seeks to annul or diminish the rights and freedoms of the people, is prohibited.", and Article 4 relates to matrimonial equality, stating that "man and woman are equal under the law. The law shall protect the organization and development of the family." [lower-alpha 1]

On 18 February 2015, a local newspaper announced that the first same-sex marriage had occurred in Villahermosa on 13 February after a legal appeal to the Supreme Court. [6] By May 2017, ten same-sex couples had married in Tabasco via the recurso de amparo remedy. [7]

Legislative action

Debate surrounding the legalization of same-sex marriage or civil unions emerged in Tabasco in 2009, simultaneously with the discussion then-ongoing in Mexico City. Following the passage of legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Mexico City in December 2009, debate gained traction in Tabasco. In 2009, a group of 20 same-sex couples sent a motion to the Congress of Tabasco asking that they be allowed to marry. [8] The state's largest political parties, the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), announced their support for same-sex marriage in 2010. [9] Despite the support of these political parties, there was little legislative will to change the law. As a result, an initiative to reform article 154 of the Civil Code to legalize same-sex marriage was presented by the LGBT organization Tabasqueños Unidos por la Diversidad y la Salud Sexual (Tudyssex) in April 2014, [10] but it stalled and was not voted on.

The Party of the Democratic Revolution submitted another same-sex marriage bill on 3 July 2015, following a ruling from the Supreme Court that same-sex marriage bans are unconstitutional nationwide. [11] On 18 May 2016, a lawmaker said that there was consensus in Congress to approve the bill submitted by the PRD, [12] but eventually no vote happened. The July 2018 elections resulted in the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which had expressed support for same-sex marriage in its party platform, winning the majority of legislative seats in Congress and the governorship. In November 2021, the president of Tudyssex, José Cruz Guzmán, criticised the inaction of the state Congress. [13] MORENA had been reportedly reluctant to pass same-sex marriage legislation due to opposition from conservative groups. [14] In April 2022, activists said they were working with MORENA deputies to introduce a bill to legalize same-sex marriage. [15]

Passage of legislation in 2022

A same-sex marriage bill was introduced to Congress on 12 October 2022 by Deputy José de Jesús Hernández Díaz. It was approved by a Congress committee on 17 October with 4 votes in favour and 2 abstentions, [16] and a final vote was scheduled for Wednesday, 19 October. Congress passed the bill on 19 October by 23 votes to 5 with seven abstentions. [17] Deputy Emilio Antonio Contreras Martínez de Escobar, a supporter of the legislation, said that "[i]t is necessary that, as representatives of society, we listen and represent society through this type of legislative actions". Opponents of the legislation organised prayer rallies outside the Congress building. [18] [19] The law was signed by Governor Carlos Manuel Merino Campos, and published in the official state journal on 26 October, taking effect the next day. [2]

Article 154 of the Civil Code was amended to read:

  • in Spanish: El matrimonio, es la unión libre de dos personas, mayores dieciocho años de edad, indistintamente del género, para realizar la comunidad de vida, en donde ambos se procuran respeto, igualdad y ayuda mutua.
  • (Marriage is the free union of two people, who are over eighteen years of age, regardless of gender, to form a community of life, where both partners seek respect, equality and mutual aid.)
Political party MembersYesNoAbstain
Morena Party (Mexico).png National Regeneration Movement 21174
PRD logo without border (Mexico).svg Party of the Democratic Revolution 633
PRI Party (Mexico).svg Institutional Revolutionary Party 422
PVE Party (Mexico).svg Ecologist Green Party of Mexico 33
Logo Partido Movimiento Ciudadano (Mexico).svg Citizens' Movement 11
Total352357

Public opinion

According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 56.5% of the Tabasco public opposed same-sex marriage, the second highest in Mexico after the neighboring state of Chiapas at 59%. [20]

See also

Notes

  1. In Spanish: El varón y la mujer son iguales ante la ley. Esta protegerá la organización y el desarrollo de la familia. [4]
    In Chontal Maya: Ni yinik i ni ixik jin tomp'ejo' tupɨnte' ni jɨpt'an. Jinda umek'e' ni woyomjo' i ni uch'ijiba ta ni fa'milya. [5]

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Same-sex marriage is legally recognized and performed throughout Mexico since 31 December 2022. On 10 August 2010 the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled that same-sex marriages performed anywhere within Mexico must be recognized by the 31 states without exception, and fundamental spousal rights except for adoption have also applied to same-sex couples across the country. Mexico was the fifth country in North America and the 33rd worldwide to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Chihuahua since 12 June 2015. By statute, in Mexico, if any five rulings from the courts on a single issue result in the same outcome, legislatures are bound to change the law. In the case of Chihuahua, more than 20 individual amparos were decided with the same outcome, yet the Congress did not act. In anticipation of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ordering the Congress to act, Governor César Duarte Jáquez announced on 11 June that there would be no further prohibition in the state. Marriage licenses became available the following day, 12 June 2015. Chihuahua was the third Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage, after Quintana Roo and Coahuila.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Jalisco since a unanimous ruling by the Mexican Supreme Court on 26 January 2016 striking down the state's same-sex marriage ban as unconstitutional under Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. The ruling was published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 21 April; however, some municipalities refused to marry same-sex couples until being ordered by Congress to do so on 12 May 2016. The state Congress passed a bill codifiying same-sex marriage into law on 6 April 2022.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Campeche since 20 May 2016. In April 2016, Governor Alejandro Moreno Cárdenas introduced a same-sex marriage bill to the Congress of Campeche, which was approved on 10 May and entered into force 10 days later. Campeche had previously recognized same-sex couples in the form of civil unions only, which were enacted in 2013 and grant couples several of the rights and benefits of marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Chiapas in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling issued on 11 July 2017 that the ban on same-sex marriage violated the equality and non-discrimination provisions of Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. The ruling, published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 11 May 2018, legalized same-sex marriage in the state of Chiapas.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Morelos since 5 July 2016. A bill to amend the State Constitution to legalize same-sex marriage in Morelos passed Congress on 18 May 2016 by 20 votes to 6. Ratification by a majority of the state's 33 municipalities was confirmed on 27 June 2016. The law was published in the official state gazette on 4 July 2016 and took effect the following day.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Querétaro since 13 November 2021. On 22 September 2021, the state Congress passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage in Querétaro. The law was published in the state's official gazette on 12 November, and took effect the following day. Previously, same-sex couples could marry in eight of the eighteen municipalities of Querétaro, comprising 60% of the state's population, despite a state law prohibiting same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage is legal in Puebla in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. On 1 August 2017, the Supreme Court ruled that the same-sex marriage ban containted in the state's Civil Code violated Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico, legalizing same-sex marriage in the state of Puebla. The ruling was officially published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 16 February 2018.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Baja California since 3 November 2017 when the Secretary General of Government, Francisco Rueda Gómez, instructed the state's civil registry to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples and cease enforcement of the state's same-sex marriage ban. This was in line with jurisprudence established by the Mexican Supreme Court, which has ruled that same-sex marriage bans violate Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. Previously, Baja California had banned same-sex marriage both by statute and in its state constitution.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Tlaxcala since 25 December 2020. Legislation to legalise same-sex marriage passed the Congress of Tlaxcala on 8 December 2020 by a vote of 16–3, and came into force on 25 December. Tlaxcala has also recognised civil unions, which grant several of the rights and benefits of marriage, for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples since 12 January 2017.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Zacatecas since 30 December 2021. On 14 December 2021, the Congress of Zacatecas passed a same-sex marriage bill by 18 votes to 10. The legislation was published in the official state gazette on 29 December, and came into force the following day. Prior to statewide legalisation, five municipalities of Zacatecas issued marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a state ban, comprising about a quarter of the state population. These five municipalities were Zacatecas City, Cuauhtémoc, Villanueva, Miguel Auza and Fresnillo.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in San Luis Potosí since 21 May 2019. The Congress of San Luis Potosí approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on 16 May 2019. It was signed into law by Governor Juan Manuel Carreras on 17 May and published in the official state journal on 20 May. The law took effect the following day.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Baja California Sur since 29 June 2019. On 27 June, the state Congress passed a bill opening marriage to same-sex couples. It was published in the official state gazette on 28 June and took effect the following day, legalizing same-sex marriage in Baja California Sur.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Veracruz since 13 June 2022. On 30 May 2022, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban violated Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. The Congress of Veracruz passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage three days later on 2 June 2022. It was published in the official state journal on 13 June and went into effect the same day.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Sinaloa since 30 June 2021. On 12 June 2021, a federal court ordered the Congress of Sinaloa to pass a same-sex marriage law by 15 June, in accordance with jurisprudence established by the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation. Subsequently, same-sex marriage legislation passed Congress unanimously on 15 June. It was published in the official state journal on 29 June, and entered into force the following day, making Sinaloa the 20th Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Guanajuato since 20 December 2021. That day, the Secretary General of Government, Libia Dennise García Muñoz, issued an official directive addressed to officials of the state civil registry that, effective immediately, same-sex couples can marry in the state. Guanajuato became the 23rd Mexican state, and the 24th jurisdiction, to legalize same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Durango since 19 September 2022 in accordance with an executive order issued by Governor Esteban Villegas Villarreal the previous day, addressed to officials of the state civil registry that same-sex couples can marry in the state. The Congress of Durango passed same-sex marriage legislation three days later.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the State of Mexico since 2 November 2022. On 11 October 2022, the Congress of the State of Mexico voted 50–16 with seven abstentions to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. It was published on 1 November 2022, and took effect the next day. The State of Mexico was the third-to-last state in Mexico to provide for same-sex marriage.

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Tamaulipas since 19 November 2022. On 26 October 2022, the Congress of Tamaulipas passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage in a 23–12 vote. It was published in the official state journal on 18 November, and took effect the following day. Tamaulipas was the second-to-last Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage.

References

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  2. 1 2 "Decreto 079". Periódico Oficial del Estado Libre y Soberano de Tabasco (in Spanish). 26 October 2022.
  3. "No se ha recibido ningún recurso contra aprobación del matrimonio igualitario, señala coordinadora de Asuntos Jurídicos". XEVA News Tabasco (in Spanish). 28 October 2022.
  4. "Mexico's Constitution of 1917 with Amendments through 2015" (PDF). www.constituteproject.org. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-03-06. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
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