Same-sex marriage in Oaxaca

In August 2011, three same-sex couples, four women and two men, applied to be married and were denied by the Civil Registry in Oaxaca City.[1] They sought an injunction, but it was denied on 31 January. The couples appealed the judgment to the Collegiate Courts in Civil and Administrative Matters for the State.[1] On 9 April 2012, one of the lesbian couples was granted permission by a judge to marry in Oaxaca, thus becoming the first approval for same-sex marriage in the state. The case was appealed. On 5 December 2012, the three couples won their appeal from the Supreme Court,[1] but local officials refused to perform the marriages. The case returned to the Supreme Court and an additional ruling in favor of the couples was issued. The first lesbian couple received authorization to marry from the Civil Registry on 25 February 2013.[1] They were the first same-sex couple married in Oaxaca and celebrated their marriage on 22 March 2013.[1][2] The male couple received notice of their authorization on 3 June 2013,[1] and the third couple two days later.[3] It was announced in November 2014 that four same-sex couples had married in the state by that time.[1]

On 26 August 2012, a Mexican federal judge ordered the state of Oaxaca to perform same-sex marriages based on the Constitution of Mexico which bans discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. This ruling and two others were reviewed by the Mexican Supreme Court, which issued unanimous rulings on 5 December 2012, overturning the ban on same-sex marriage in three individual cases.[4] To establish precedent however, five individual cases must be decided this way.[5]

The 2012 Oaxaca case was pivotal in opening the door to legal same-sex marriage in every state in Mexico through the injunction (amparo) process. Using international decisions, such as the Atala Riffo and Daughters v. Chile case,[6] the U.S. cases Loving v. Virginia and Brown v. Board of Education,[7] and Mexico's own anti-discrimination laws, the Supreme Court ruled on 5 December 2012 that: 1) Laws limiting marriage to one man and one woman, or for the purposes of perpetuating the species, violate federal law requiring that they "correspond to all persons without any distinction" and 2) That such laws are unconstitutional on the basis of discrimination by sexual orientation and usurpation of the right, not only of the individual but also the couple's right, to form a family.[8] Barring legislative will to change state laws, a provision in the Mexican Code allows that five rulings in a state with the same outcome on the same issue override a statute and establish the legal jurisprudence to overturn it.[9] Thus, marriages obtained by injunction can be performed in any state, regardless of whether the state Civil Code has been changed.[10]

On April 23, 2014, the Mexican Supreme Court granted 39 same-sex couples the right to marry.[11] A same-sex couple from San Juan Bautista Tuxtepec won an injunction in court in early July 2016.[12]

In July 2017, a same-sex couple from Oaxaca City was successful in getting married without receiving an injunction.[13] The first same-sex marriage in Santiago Jamiltepec took place in April 2018.[14] Salina Cruz's first same-sex marriage was performed the following month.[15] Both couples married after filing for an injunction in court.

On 26 August 2018, the Oaxaca Civil Registry began allowing same-sex couples to marry without the need for an injunction. However, the process took three business days, compared with two hours for opposite-sex couples.[16][17][18][19] Lawyer Daniel Merlin Tolentino explained that the difference of waiting time between heterosexual and same-sex couples was to ensure the marriage would comply with jurisprudence. The Civil Registry would carefully consider and analyse each marriage request from a same-sex couples to ensure its legitmacy, as state law at the time still banned same-sex marriages. The couple must present valid documents, including a marriage request, both spouses' birth certificates and official documents and the results of a premarital medical test, as well as have at least 4 witnesses present. The cost is identical to heterosexual couples.

On 28 August 2019, the Congress of Oaxaca passed a bill in a 25–10 vote to make the definition of marriage and concubinage in the Civil Code gender-neutral.[20][21][22] It was signed into law by Governor Alejandro Murat Hinojosa on 29 August, published in the official state journal on 5 October 2019 and came into effect that same day.[23] Article 143 of the Civil Code was changed to read:

• in Spanish: El matrimonio es un contrato civil celebrado entre dos personas, que se unen para realizar una vida en común y proporcionarse respeto, igualdad y ayuda mutua.
• (Marriage is a civil contract between two people, who unite to establish a life together and to provide each other with respect, equality and mutual assistance.)

Political party	Members	Yes	No	Abstain	Absent
National Regeneration Movement	26	17	3	4	2
Institutional Revolutionary Party	6	4	2
Labor Party	3	3
Ecologist Green Party	2		2
Mujeres Independientes	2	1			1
Social Encounter Party	2		2
National Action Party	1		1
Total	42	25	10	4	3