Same-sex marriage in Colima

Same-sex marriage became legal in the Mexican state of Colima on 12 June 2016. On 25 May 2016, a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the state passed the Congress of Colima and was published as law in the state's official newspaper on 11 June. It came into effect the next day.

Colima had previously recognized same-sex relationships in the form of civil unions. Congress passed a civil union bill in 2013 but repealed it in 2016 shortly before the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Civil unions

On 4 July 2013, the Congress of Colima approved an amendment to article 147 of the State Constitution to formalize same-sex civil unions (Spanish: enlace conyugal). Within 30 days, seven of Colima's ten municipalities had approved the constitutional change.[1][2][3] An appeal to the changes was filed and the Supreme Court agreed in August 2014 to review it.[4] Deliberations began at the Supreme Court in September 2014 to determine whether providing only civil unions for same-sex couples and marriage to opposite-sex couples was discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.[5] On 18 March 2015, a district judge declared that "separate but equal treatment is discriminatory" and unconstitutional.[6] The decision also stated that section 201 of the Civil Code, which defined gendered roles for men and women, was discriminatory and reiterated that adoption open to heterosexual married couples must also be open to homosexual couples.[7] Shortly after the ruling, a local LGBT group announced it would help any couple who joined in a civil union to receive a marriage certificate.[8] The state appealed the ruling, and on 17 June 2015 the Mexican Supreme Court agreed that the "separate but equal" union laws violated the Constitution of Mexico.[9] The state subsequently announced that it would repeal article 147 and pass a same-sex marriage law.

On 5 May 2016, Congress unanimously repealed the civil union provisions.[10] All partnerships performed before the repeal are recognised by the state and can be converted to marriage upon request.[11]

Marriage

Same-sex unions performed in Mexican states
  Same-sex marriages performed.*
Stripes: Proportion of municipal coverage.
  Civil unions performed; marriage by amparo only.
  Marriage not performed (except by amparo) despite Supreme Court order.
  Marriage accessible by amparo or by traveling out of state.
*Legislation is not equal in all states. See details.

Injunctions

On 22 January 2013, the civil registrar of Cuauhtémoc received a request for a marriage license from a same-sex couple. After a team of lawyers reviewed the petition,[12] Mayor Indira Vizcaíno Silva granted the first same-sex marriage license in Colima on 27 February 2013.[13] The municipality performed a second same-sex marriage (and the first lesbian union) on 25 March 2013.[14] A third same-sex marriage in Cuauhtémoc was held on 4 April 2013 for a lesbian couple, and the registrar announced at the time that there were 20 to 30 additional marriages scheduled on the calendar.[15] Vizcaíno Silva indicated in March 2013 that a local survey had showed that eight out of ten residents supported the municipality's decision to issue marriage certificates to same-sex couples.[16]

In June 2013, Judge Rosa Lilia Vargas Valle of the Second District Court ruled that the Colima Civil Code was unconstitutional in limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.[17][18]

Constitutional ban

On 4 July 2013, alongside formalizing civil unions, the state Congress also approved an amendment to article 147 of the Colima Constitution defining marriage as the union between a man and a woman, thus constitutionally banning same-sex marriage.[2][3][19]

The state Congress voted unanimously to repeal article 147 on 5 May 2016, ending civil unions and removing the same-sex marriage ban.[20]

Legislative action

Following the Mexican Supreme Court's ruling on 17 June 2015 declaring that a "separate but equal" treatment for same-sex couples is discriminatory and unconstitutional,[9] the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) submitted a same-sex marriage bill to Congress.[21] The bill would also allow same-sex couples to adopt children jointly.[22]

A vote on the legislation was scheduled for May 2016.[10] The bill was approved on 25 May 2016 in a unanimous 24–0 vote.[23][24] It was published in the state's official journal on 11 June, following Governor José Ignacio Peralta's signature, and came into effect the following day.[11]

Political party Members Yes No Abstain Absent
National Action Party 13 13
Institutional Revolutionary Party 8 7 1
Citizens' Movement 1 1
New Alliance Party 1 1
Labor Party 1 1
Ecologist Green Party of Mexico 1 1
Total 25 24 1

Statistics

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Colima, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.[25]

Number of marriages performed in Colima
Year Same-sex Opposite-sex Total % same-sex
Female Male Total
20163536713,3253,3962.09%
20174523683,0783,1462.16%
2018346403,0503,0901.29%
20194424683,2733,3412.04%

Public opinion

A 2017 opinion poll conducted by Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica found that 47% of Colima residents supported same-sex marriage. Another 47% were opposed.[26]

According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 39% of the Colima public opposed same-sex marriage.[27]

See also

References

  1. "Congreso de Colima aprueba uniones civiles entre personas del mismo sexo". CNN México. 4 July 2013.
  2. "Congreso de Colima aprueba enlaces conyugales de parejas gay" (in Spanish). informador.mx. 4 July 2013. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  3. Quilles, Alfredo (29 July 2013). "Colima declara válida la ley sobre bodas gay" (in Spanish). El Universal. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. "SCJN analizará amparo sobre unión gay en Colima; podrían 'tumbar' enlaces conyugales". Colima 3.0.
  5. "Revisarán normas sobre uniones homosexuales y heterosexuales". planoinformativo.com.
  6. Zamora Briseño, Pedro (18 March 2015). "Avala la Corte matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo en Colima" (in Spanish). Proceso. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  7. Michel, Elena (18 March 2015). "Inconstitucional, diferenciar matrimonios en Colima: SCJN" (in Spanish). El Universal. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
  8. Oscar Cervantes. "Comité de Diversidad Sexual apoyará para que Enlaces Conyugales reciban acta de matrimonio - Colima Noticias". Colima Noticias.
  9. "EL "ENLACE CONYUGAL" ESTABLECIDO EN COLIMA VULNERA DERECHO A LA IGUALDAD Y NO DISCRIMINACIÓN: PRIMERA SALA". Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación. 17 June 2015. Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved 25 October 2015.
  10. Anula Congreso Enlaces Conyugales Archived 12 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  11. DECRETO No. 103 Colima, Col., Sábado 11 de Junio del año 2016
  12. "Colima abre las puertas al matrimonio gay". Animal Político.
  13. "Alcaldesa aprueba matrimonio gay en Colima amparada en la Constitución". cnn.com. 22 March 2013.
  14. Oscar Adrián Luna. "Celebran segundo matrimonio gay en Cuauhtémoc". Perriodismo.
  15. "Se realiza la tercera boda gay en Colima". Vanguardia.
  16. "Alcaldesa obliga a Colima a reconocer el matrimonio gay". Animal Politico (in Spanish). 21 March 2013.
  17. "Abogado oaxaqueño logra que se consume matrimonio gay en Colima". Proceso.com.mx. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  18. Briseño, Pedro Zamora (20 June 2013). "Inconstitucional, prohibición de matrimonios gay en Colima: Juzgado federal". Diario Avanzada. Archived from the original on 24 June 2013.
  19. (in Spanish) Aprueban reforma para celebrar matrimonios civiles gay en Colima
  20. (in Spanish) Colima deroga artículo que excluía a parejas gay del matrimonio
  21. "Presenta Paco Rodríguez propuesta para permitir las bodas gay en la entidad". cndigital.mx. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
  22. "Parejas del mismo sexo pueden adoptar en Colima: funcionario del DIF". Ángel Guardián. 14 June 2016. Archived from the original on 15 June 2016.
  23. Flores, Juan Carlos (25 May 2016). "Aprueba congreso matrimonios igualitarios y protestan grupos conservadores". Colima Noticias (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 May 2016.
  24. Colima aprueba matrimonio igualitario
  25. "Matrimonios, Entidad y municipio de registro, Sexo, Sexo". INEGI (in Spanish).
  26. (in Spanish) Encuesta nacional 2017, Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica
  27. "¿Quién está en contra del matrimonio gay?". El Sol de México (in Spanish). 15 April 2019.

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