Is gay marriage legal in Mexico?
By
OptimistMinds
As a BetterHelp affiliate, we may receive compensation from BetterHelp if you purchase products or services through the links provided.
Author bio
The Optimistminds editorial team is made up of psychologists, psychiatrists and mental health professionals. Each article is written by a team member with exposure to and experience in the subject matter. The article then gets reviewed by a more senior editorial member. This is someone with extensive knowledge of the subject matter and highly cited published material.
In this brief guide we are going to answer the question ‘’Is gay marriage legal in Mexico?’’ we’ll take a look at the legal status of gay marriage in japan, as well as the country’s LGBT+ movements.
Is gay marriage legal in Mexico?
Yes, marriage is legal in 26 Mexican states, while in six of them it is not yet approved by law.
The study “The regulation of same-sex civil marriage in Mexico’’ highlights that only 19 states in Mexico have explicitly recognized egalitarian marriage. Irma Kánter Coronel, author of the study highlights that its application has been made possible by the legislative reforms of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN), however, she emphasizes that there are still restrictions.
States that have approved equal marriage
The states that have approved equal marriage are:
- Aguascalientes
- Baja California
- Baja California Sur
- Campeche
- Coahuila
- Colima
- Chiapas
- Chihuahua
- Ciudad de México
- Guanajuato
- Hidalgo
- Jalisco
- Michoacán
- Morelos
- Nayarit
- Nuevo León
- Oaxaca
- Puebla
- Querétaro
- Quintana Roo
- San Luis Potosí
- Sinaloa
- Sonora
- Tlaxcala
- Yucatán
- Zacatecas
The first entity that approved egalitarian marriage in the Aztec territory was Mexico City in 2009 and in subsequent years more entities have been added to the list, such as:
The most recent entity to approve equal marriage was Jalisco. With 26 votes in favor and 8 against, as well as three abstentions, the State Congress approved equal marriage and reformed articles 258, 260 and 267 Bis of the Civil Code.
In the changes made in favor of the LGBT+ community, the prohibition of ‘conversion therapies’ also stands out, as well as the recognition of trans people in birth certificates, already established in the Gender Identity Law. The Jalisco Congress also approved a series of fines for those who perform conversion therapies.
The states that still do not approve equal marriage are: Durango, Guerrero, the State of Mexico, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.
The study by researcher Irma Kánter Coronel, highlights that at international level only 33 countries have fully approved equal marriage and only some of them also stipulate adoption between people of the same sex.
The first country to approve equal marriage was the Netherlands in September 2000 and a year later (2001) it came into force. While so far South Africa is the only country in Africa to recognize the legal union between people of the same sex.
The study highlights that in Latin America the first country to recognize equal marriage was Argentina and by 2022 Uruguay (2012), Brazil (2013), Colombia (2016), Ecuador (2019), Costa Rica (2020), and Chile (2021) have joined.
What can couples do if same-sex marriage is not approved in their state?
Despite the fact that not in all states same-sex marriage is allowed, it is possible to request an amparo against the articles that limit it and file the procedure before a federal judge. On June 12, 2015, the SCJN issued jurisprudence 43/2015 which determined that equal marriage is constitutional, so all amparos that are filed must have a favorable resolution for the couple.
If you live in one of the states where equal marriage is not regulated, here we tell you what you can do. First you must go to the Civil Registry to request that your marriage be accepted; otherwise, you will have 15 business days to file a lawsuit with the nearest amparo judge. You must present the writ of demand with original handwritten signatures, the marriage request presented by the Civil Registry official and the response; also a copy of the couple’s official credentials.
As well as a simple copy of the lawsuit and attachments for each of the authorities that are indicated as authorities and one for the Federal Public Ministry. We reiterate that the amparo must be admitted by the judge hearing the matter because the SCJN declared unconstitutional the denial of an egalitarian marriage in the country.
References
Same-Sex Marriage Around the World. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/fact-sheet/gay-marriage-around-the-world/
How Mexico Quietly Legalized Same-Sex Marriage. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2015/06/16/414964843/how-mexico-quietly-legalized-same-sex-marriage
