Mexico’s highest court has struck down state bans on gay marriage as unconstitutional for a fifth time.
A state law which considers the ultimate purpose of marriage to be “procreation, and or defines [marriage] as celebrated between a man and a woman, is unconstitutional,” Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled.
The ruling, delivered June 3 but made public this week, came in a case challenging Colima’s ban, the AP reported.
The ruling is considered a game changer for the movement in Mexico. Under Mexican law, five rulings create a “generic jurisprudence” binding on lower court judges.
That doesn’t mean nationwide marriage equality, however.
“[F]ederal judges must rule five times in each state to create precedent that would lead to full nullification of a local marriage code,” BuzzFeed News reported.
On Friday, the Washington Blade reported that Cesar Duarte Jaquez, the governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua, announced that effective immediately his administration would no longer prevent same-sex couples from marrying.
Chihuahua, a conservative state that borders Texas and New Mexico, is the third state behind Coahuila and Quintana Roo where gay couples can marry in Mexico. The federal district of Mexico City, where nearly 9 million Mexicans reside, has had marriage equality since 2009.
by Carlos Santoscoy
Source – On Top Magazine
