Most of Mexico’s 31 states have had a standing ban on marriage equality, but the Supreme Court has worked over the past few years to dismantle those state laws that confine marriage to heterosexual couples.

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In 2009, Mexico City legalised same-sex marriage, seeing over 5,000 marriages to date. The Supreme Court supported Mexico City law, permitting other regions to recognise all marriages performed in the capital.

This month, the Supreme Court decreed;

“As the purpose of matrimony is not procreation, there is no justified reason that the matrimonial union be heterosexual, nor that it be stated as between only a man and only a woman. Such a statement turns out to be discriminatory in its mere expression.”

This ruling will permit homosexual couples to seek legal recourse should they be refused marriage in their home state. It has also opened the door for lawyers to push for official state legislature to protect marriage equality in Mexico.

Mexico’s move to legalise marriage equality comes on the precipice of the United States Supreme Court’s ruling on nationwide marriage law.

Leigh Hill