28 Oct 2022

Marriage Equality is now a reality across all of Mexico

All states have now passed the required laws to legalise same-sex marriages.

Mexico celebrates as same-sex marriage becomes law of the land
Emily Chudy October 27, 2022
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A Mexican couple married in Pride month. (Getty)
Same-sex marriage has been fully legalised across Mexico, after the final state, Tamaulipas, voted in favour of the law on Wednesday (26 October).
The vote followed the states of Durango, Guerrero, the State of Mexico, Tabasco, Veracruz, and Yucatán moving to allow equal marriage earlier in 2022, Reuters has reported.
LGBTQ+ organisation Yaaj Mexico celebrated the news on Twitter, writing: “With 23 votes in favour, two against, and one abstention, equal marriage is approved in Tamaulipas, the last state to guarantee this right.
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“Our entire congratulations to civil society and wills that have fought for decades for equality.”
Andrea Chávez, federal deputy of Ciudad Juárez in Chihuahua, added: “One more step in achieving a more just, dignified and equal life for all people… love is love!”
While Mexico has a horrifying problem with violence against trans people, rated the second-deadliest country in the world for trans people in 2019, the legalisation of same-sex marriage is one of several steps towards LGBTQ+ equality in the country in recent years.
In February this year, an LGBTQ+ activist became the first person in the country to be issued a birth certificate legally recognising them as non-binary.
This follows more than half of Mexico’s states passing legislation to allow trans people to change their gender on official documents.
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Fausto Martinez, a 26-year-old law student, was able to change their gender marker on their birth certificate to “NB” after a year-long legal battle in the state of Guanajuato.
In a Twitter thread, they shared a photograph of their amended birth certificate, explaining the journey it took them to get there.
“I have always said that what is not named does not exist,” they wrote.
“For this reason, the transience of this fact, the Mexican state recognises that non-binary people exist and with that, we are subject to rights and obligations.”
Putting the UK to shame, Mexico also voted to ban all forms of LGBTQ+ conversion therapy in early October, which will now head to the country’s chamber of deputies for a final vote.

Same-sex marriage has been fully legalised across Mexico, after the final state, Tamaulipas, recently voted in favour of the law. Other states passed the required laws earlier this year.

What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Mexico?

What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Mexico? Let’s take a look at some of the key equality indicators.

Is homosexuality legal in Mexico?

Same-sex sexual activity was decriminalised in 1871, however homosexuality has continued to be punished using laws against public immorality and indecency.

Are there anti-discrimination protections in place for LGBTQ people in Mexico?

Yes. Protections were implemented in 2003.

Is there Marriage Equality in Mexico?

Yes, in 2022, all states passed the required legislation to implement Marriage Equality.

What’s life like for LGBTQ people in Mexico?

Mexico is a socially conservative country, however there has been a progressive move towards LGBTQ equality.

There is a vibrant and visible LGBTQ community – particularly in the larger cities – and Mexico’s beach-side resort towns generally welcome LGBTQ tourism.

Homophobic violence still regularly occurs - Trans women are particularly vulnerable.

What’s the history of homosexuality in Mexico?

Traditionally, there has been tolerance of sexual diversity in a number of the indigenous cultures of this region – especially among Isthmus Zapotecs and Yucatán Mayas.

There was a strong association between ritual and homosexual activity. Some shamans engaged in homosexual acts with their patients, and priests engaged in ritualised homosexual acts with their gods. Similarly, the Toltecs were a very sex-positive people, with public displays of sex and eroticism, including of homosexual acts.

Little is known about same-sex relationships in Aztec society. Some sources claim that homosexuality among young Aztec men was tolerated – homosexual acts were commonly practised in temples and before battle – but not among adult men, where the punishment could be death. The penetrated adult male (known as cuiloni) would typically be killed through anal impalement but the penetrating male would usually not suffer any punishments. On the other hand, many Aztec nobles and rich merchants had both male and female prostitutes and engaged in same-sex relations, and there were some religious rituals where homosexuality was acceptable, most notably Tezcatlipoca sacrifices. However, some sources suggest that homosexuality was more widely practised and tolerated among the Aztecs and that most of the negativity surrounding the practice stems from Spanish records, as supposedly the Spanish had huge problems trying to stamp out homosexuality. The Aztec god Xōchipilli is the patron of homosexuals and male prostitutes.

In 1542, Hernan Cortés – on behalf of the King of Spain – established rules against sodomy. This escalated as the Spanish regime continued to try and punish activity it described as sexual sins.