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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 ruling was meant to take effect upon publication in the Official Journal of the Federation , but the Congress of Veracruz passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage just three days later, on 2 June. The law was published in the official state journal on 13 June and went into effect the same day.
Veracruz has also recognised gender-neutral concubinage, granting same-sex cohabitating couples all of the rights and obligations of marriage, including adoption, since 11 June 2020.
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 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." [a] The Constitution of Veracruz does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriages. Article 6 of the Constitution states that "the State will promote the necessary conditions for the full enjoyment of liberty, equality, security and non-discrimination of the people". [3] [4] [5] [6]
In February 2014, Javier Darío Olivares García and Víctor Manuel Durán Sáenz applied for a marriage license at the civil registry office in the city of Veracruz. The couple were turned down, and subsequently filed an amparo in court, which was granted by a federal judge on 22 July 2014. [7] [8] Despite the approval, the registrar refused to schedule a ceremony for the couple. After presenting their amparo to the registrar in Boca del Río, the marriage was scheduled for 6 December 2014. Their wedding was the first same-sex marriage in Veracruz. [9] On 29 January 2015, a local LGBT group, Comunidad Jarochos, announced that a lesbian couple had won an amparo and would marry on 4 April 2015. [10] The group also announced that there were 8 pending amparos in the state. [11] Four additional couples filed amparos in court on 16 May 2016. [12] Three couples (two lesbian couples and one male couple) were granted the right to marry on 26 May 2016. [13] 18 same-sex marriages had been performed in Veracruz by August 2017. [14] By early 2019, this had increased to 69 marriages, [15] and to 150 marriages by July 2020. [16] All these couples married using the recurso de amparo remedy.
A lawsuit challenging article 75 of the Civil Code, which defined marriage as the "union of a man and a woman", was filed on 20 July 2017 with the Fourth District Court. [17] [18] On 7 November 2017, Judge José Arquímedes Gregorio Loranca Luna declared the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. [19] Guillermo Izacur Maldonado, president of Comunidad Jarochos, argued that the ruling was a "general injunction" that covers every same-sex couple in the state and that same-sex marriage should thus effectively be legal in the state as a result of this court decision. [20] However, state officials announced they would continue to enforce the state's same-sex marriage ban despite the court ruling. [21]
Civil union legislation was first proposed in Veracruz in 2014. In March 2014, Deputy Cuauhtémoc Pola Estrada from the Citizens' Movement party introduced a partnership bill to the Congress of Veracruz. [22] The bill was opposed by the governing parties and saw little legislation action. In July 2014, Pola Estrada introduced a proposal to amend article 75 of the Civil Code to legalize same-sex marriage. [23] In September 2014, he confirmed that the bill was still awaiting reviews by legislative committees. [24] In April 2015, citing disappointment with the legislative inaction, the president of the State Human Rights Commission announced his intention to propose a new same-sex marriage bill. [25] In July 2016, Deputy Mónica Robles Barajas from the Ecologist Green Party submitted another measure to legalize same-sex marriage. [26] These bills saw very little legislative progress due to opposition from the governing National Action Party (PAN). [27]
In July 2018, as one of its last actions before leaving office, PAN submitted a proposal to Congress to explicitly ban same-sex marriage in the State Constitution. It failed to pass, with 32 deputies in favor, 10 against and 2 absentions. As 33 votes were needed to amend the Constitution, the measure failed by one vote. [28] The July 2018 elections resulted in the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) winning the majority of legislative seats in Congress and the governorship. MORENA had expressed support for same-sex marriage in its party platform ahead of the election.
On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz passed a cohabitation bill by a vote of 35–12. The law grants cohabitating couples, different-sex or same-sex, the same rights, benefits and obligations as married couples. [29] [30] The law was published in the official state journal on 10 June, [31] following the signature of Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez, and went into effect the following day. The legislation defines cohabitation as follows:
Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Regeneration Movement | 31 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
National Action Party | 13 | 2 | 11 | ||
Institutional Revolutionary Party | 3 | 3 | |||
Citizens' Movement | 2 | 2 | |||
Party of the Democratic Revolution | 1 | 1 | |||
Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 1 | 1 | |||
Social Encounter Party | 1 | 1 | |||
Total | 50 | 35 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
Three days after the Mexican Supreme Court struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban in an action of unconstitutionality on 30 May 2022, the Congress of Veracruz passed legislation amending state law to define marriage as the union of "two people". The bill had been introduced two months prior on 5 April by deputies Gonzalo Durán Chincoya and Ramón Diaz Ávila. The law was passed by 36 votes to 4. [32] [33] It was published in the official state journal on 13 June, following Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez's signature, and took effect that same day. [34] The first same-sex couple to marry in Veracruz under the new law were Wendy Arlette Segovia Aguilar and Lucía Marisol González Cruz in San Andrés Tuxtla on 15 June 2022. [35]
Article 75 of the Civil Code of Veracruz was amended to read:
Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
National Regeneration Movement | 31 | 23 | 8 | ||
National Action Party | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||
Institutional Revolutionary Party | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
Citizens' Movement | 2 | 2 | |||
Labor Party | 2 | 2 | |||
Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 2 | 2 | |||
Force for Mexico | 1 | 1 | |||
Total | 50 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz amended state family law to recognize same-sex cohabitation but at the same time it did not repeal the state's same-sex marriage ban. Shortly following the law's publication in the official state journal on 10 June, the National Human Rights Commission filed an action of unconstitutionality (acción de inconstitucionalidad; docketed 144/2020) against the state of Veracruz, contesting the constitutionality of the new cohabitation law and various articles of the Civil Code that banned same-sex marriage. [36] This lawsuit sought to fully legalize same-sex marriage in the state, similarly to what happened in numerous other states, including Jalisco (2016), Chiapas (2017), Puebla (2017), Aguascalientes (2019), and Nuevo León (2019).
On 30 May 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 10–0 that article 75 of the Civil Code, which banned same-sex marriage, was void and unconstitutional. [37] The decision would officially take effect upon publication in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación), but state civil registry officials had the possibility to implement the decision immediately. [38] Congress passed a same-sex marriage bill just three days later, legalizing same-sex marriage in Veracruz. The court ruling was published in the Official Journal on 20 October 2022. [39]
By February 2023, approximately 240 same-sex marriages had taken place in the state, mostly in the city of Veracruz and Xalapa. Five same-sex divorces were performed in the same time period. [40]
According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 54% of the Veracruz public opposed same-sex marriage, the fourth highest in Mexico. [41]
Same-sex marriage is legally recognized and performed throughout Mexico since 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. The gubernatorial policy was continued by María Eugenia Campos Galván in 2021.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Guerrero since 31 December 2022.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Michoacán since 23 June 2016. On 18 May 2016, the Congress of Michoacán approved a bill to legalise same-sex marriage by a vote of 27 in favour, none opposed and 8 abstentions. The law was published in the state's official journal on 22 June, and took effect the following day. Previously, Congress had refused to amend the Family Code to legalize same-sex marriage, despite a ruling by a state judge requiring it to do so.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Nayarit since 23 December 2015. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was approved by the state Congress on 17 December in a 26–1 vote with 1 abstention. The law was published in the official state journal on 22 December and took effect the following day. Nayarit was the fourth Mexican state to legalise same-sex marriage after Quintana Roo, Coahuila and Chihuahua.
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 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 Legislature of Querétaro passed a law legalizing same-sex marriage. 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 is legal in Aguascalientes in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation on 2 April 2019 that the state's ban on same-sex marriage violated Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. The ruling came into effect upon publication in the Official Gazette of the Federation on 16 August 2019, legalizing same-sex marriage in Aguascalientes.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Hidalgo since 11 June 2019. A bill for the legalization of same-sex marriages was approved by the Congress of Hidalgo on 14 May 2019. It was published in the official state journal on 10 June and took effect the following day.
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 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 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.