Chihuahua becomes fourth Mexican state to legalize same-sex marriage

The Mexican state of Chihuahua has joined Mexico City, Quintana Roo and Oaxaca in allowing same-sex couples to marry following a 22 August court verdict

Same-sex couples may now seek to be married through the Civil Registry of the Mexican state of Chihuahua after a District Court Judge ruled in favor of a gay couple who had sought to be married but had instead been turned away.

The couple, named as Tony and Thomas by El Pueblo, had sought to marry on 30 April but were turned away by the Chihuahua State Civil Registry.

But on 22 August 10th District Court Judge José Juan Múzquiz Gomez ordered the registry to allow Tony and Thomas to marry.

He gave the Chihuahua state government ten days to object to the ruling, which it failed to do, and on 3 September State Legal Adviser Mario Trevizo announced that the deadline had passed.

Mexico’s Supreme Court struck down a ban on same-sex marriage in the state of Oaxaca last year.

Mexico’s Supreme Court has also ruled that same-sex marriages performed out of state must be legally recognized in all 32 Mexican states including those that do not allow them to be performed in-state.

Mexico City, Quintana Roo and Oaxaca already perform same-sex marriages while the states of Colima and Coahuila allow same-sex couples to enter into civil unions.

However a Colima lawmaker recently said they should not be celebrated outdoors in case children are confused by them.

by Andrew Potts
Source – Gay Star News