Same-sex marriage in Michoacán

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Michoacán since June 23, 2016. On May 18, 2016, the Congress of Michoacán approved a bill to allow same-sex couples to marry. The vote was 27 in favour, with no one opposing and 8 people choosing not to vote. The law was officially announced on June 22 and started being used the next day. Before this, the Congress had not changed their rules to allow same-sex marriage, even though a local judge had said they should.

Michoacán also has special rules to support couples who are not married, called domestic partnerships. These partnerships are available to both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. The rules for these partnerships were approved by Congress in September 2015.

Domestic partnerships

In 2006, some ideas were shared about letting couples who are not married live together legally. A plan was suggested in 2007 but didn’t move forward.

Later, in 2015, leaders in Michoacán decided that couples of the same sex could choose to live together in a legal way, called domestic partnerships. This was approved by everyone in Congress. However, some people thought this wasn’t fair because only same-sex couples could do this at first. But then, in 2016, same-sex marriage became allowed, so this issue went away. After that, couples of any kind could choose domestic partnerships.

Same-sex marriage

Background

After some legal steps, a court decided in March 2014 that a state in Mexico had treated a couple unfairly by not letting them marry. The couple married soon after, becoming the first same-sex couple to marry there.

More couples followed, with courts helping them marry through special permissions. By mid-2015, many same-sex couples had married, and leaders were talking about changing the law to make it easier for everyone.

Legislative action

In May 2016, leaders in Michoacán voted to allow same-sex marriage. The new law started on June 23, 2016. Now, couples who marry, no matter their genders, share the same rights and responsibilities.

Statistics

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Michoacán since 2016.

In the first year, many marriages happened, mostly in the capital city. By 2022, couples from different backgrounds were also marrying, and most people in their communities supported them.

Public opinion

In 2017, a survey showed that about half of the people in Michoacán supported marriages between people of the same sex, while the other half did not.

Another survey in 2018 found that about 46% of people in Michoacán were against such marriages.