Same-sex marriage in the State of Mexico

Same-sex marriage has been legal in the State of Mexico since November 2, 2022. On October 11, 2022, the Congress of the State of Mexico voted to pass a bill allowing same-sex couples to marry. The vote was 50 to 16, with 6 people choosing not to vote.

The bill was signed by the Governor, Alfredo del Mazo Maza, and was officially announced on November 1. It became law the following day. This made the State of Mexico the 29th Mexican state to allow same-sex marriage. This change means that couples who love each other, no matter if they are both men or both women, can get married there.

Legal history

Background

In 2015, Mexico's highest court decided that stopping same-sex couples from marrying was unfair. This meant that same-sex couples could ask a court to marry, and judges had to follow specific rules to approve these requests. This decision came after four couples asked to marry in Toluca in 2013 but were turned down. They went to court, and a judge agreed they should be allowed to marry. The state tried to change this decision, but the Supreme Court agreed in 2015 that the law was unfair. The first same-sex couple married in the state in April 2015, and more couples married after that.

Early bills

In 2008, some people tried to get the government to allow couples who are not related to join together in a special way, but nothing happened. In 2010, another try to let same-sex couples marry also didn't go anywhere. In 2013, a lawmaker brought up the idea again, and in 2015, the governor and another group suggested new ideas about marriage and adoption. But talks kept happening without any decisions being made. After elections in 2018, a group that supports same-sex marriage got more power, but still, no changes happened for four years.

Passage of legislation in 2022

In 2022, a new idea to allow same-sex marriage was brought to the government. Votes were planned but kept being pushed back. Finally, on October 11, 2022, the government voted and agreed to the new law by a vote of 50 to 16. The governor signed it, and it was officially announced on November 1, 2022, becoming law the next day. The first marriage under this new law happened on November 2 in Coacalco de Berriozábal. The law now says that marriage is for any two people who want to share their lives together.

Marriage statistics

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in the State of Mexico since 2022 as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.

Public opinion

A survey from 2018 by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography found that 38% of people in the State of Mexico did not agree with same-sex marriage.