Same-sex marriage in Nuevo León

The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled on 12 June 2015 that state bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional nationwide. The court's ruling is considered a "jurisprudential thesis" and did not invalidate state laws, meaning that same-sex couples denied the right to marry would still have to seek individual amparos in court. The ruling standardized the procedures for judges and courts throughout Mexico to approve all applications for same-sex marriages and made the approval mandatory. Specifically, the court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage violate Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico. Article 1 of the Constitution states:

Any form of discrimination, based on ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disabilities, social status, medical conditions, religion, opinions, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other form, which violates the human dignity or seeks to annul or diminish the rights and freedoms of the people, is prohibited.^[a]

In September 2013, a federal judge ordered the civil registry to register the marriage of a lesbian couple from Monterrey.^[7] Governor Rodrigo Medina de la Cruz said his administration would abide by the order but only for this specific case.^[8] In June 2014, it was reported that nine amparos had been filed in the state, but only one had been resolved.^[9] Oral arguments were heard in court in September 2014 for a collective amparo filed by 50 gay and lesbian people contesting the constitutionality of articles 147 and 291bis of the Civil Code. Article 147 described marriage as "the lawful union of a man and a woman" and article 291bis similarly defined concubinage as "between a man and a woman".^[10] On 16 October 2014, the Supreme Court declared the two articles unconstitutional and gave the plaintiffs the right to marry their partners.^[11] The Supreme Court approved another collective amparo, involving 38 gays and lesbians, on 28 September 2016,^[12] and another, involving 118 people, on 19 October 2017.^[13] In addition, the court issued an amparo on 17 February 2016 ordering the state government to recognize the rights of cohabiting same-sex couples.^[14]

On 9 October 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that the Nuevo León Civil Code was unconstitutional and discriminatory in limiting marriage to different-sex couples. The court ordered the Congress of Nuevo León to change state law within 180 business days (i.e. by 16 April 2019). By that time, eighteen amparos had been approved in the state.^[15] However, the Supreme Court ruled in an action of unconstitutionality against the state on 19 February 2019, legalizing same-sex marriage in Nuevo León and mooting this case.^[15]

On 17 June 2015, the New Alliance Party announced its intention to introduce a same-sex marriage bill to the Congress of Nuevo León. The bill was presented on 22 June by Deputy María Leal Cantú. An independent congressman subsequently announced his intention to submit a civil union proposal with the support of the ruling National Action Party (PAN).^[16] Legislators announced that the marriage bill would be voted on sometime in September 2016,^[17] but this did not happen. In November 2017, after LGBT groups organized a protest march in favor of same-sex marriage in front of the Congress building, the state's PAN leader reiterated the party's opposition to same-sex marriage and announced it would continue to block debate on the marriage bill.^[18]

In February 2018, the National Human Rights Commission filed an action of unconstitutionality (acción de inconstitucionalidad; docketed 29/2018) against the state of Nuevo León, contesting the constitutionality of articles 140, 147 and 148 of the Civil Code. The Congress of Nuevo León had recently amended state family law, but left the same-sex marriage ban in place. Article 147 described marriage as "the lawful union of a man and a woman", and articles 140 and 148 required "the man and the woman" to be at least 18 years of age.^[19] This lawsuit sought to fully legalize same-sex marriage in Nuevo León, similarly to what had happened in Jalisco (2016), Chiapas (2017), and Puebla (2017). On 19 February 2019, the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled unanimously in a 10–0 vote that the articles of the Civil Code limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples were unconstitutional under Articles 1 and 4 of the Constitution of Mexico, legalizing same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples in the state of Nuevo León.^{[20][3][21][22]} Governor Jaime Rodríguez Calderón expressed his personal opposition to the ruling,^[23] and religious groups opposed to same-sex marriage asked Rodríguez Calderón to "ignore" the ruling.^[24] Congress was officially notified of the ruling on 26 February.^[25] The judgment officially came into force on 31 May 2019 upon publication in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación).^[26] However, the civil registry began processing marriage applications from same-sex couples and issuing marriage licenses prior to the publication date, with the first same-sex couple to marry being Janeth Oliva Piñas and Amatzú Aranda Conchola on 11 March 2019 in San Nicolás de los Garza.^[27]

A bill amending state statutes to codify same-sex marriage into law passed Congress on 14 June 2023 in a 23–10 vote.^[6] It was signed into law by Governor Samuel García and published in the official gazette on 24 June. The measure went into effect the following day.^[28] Article 147 of the Civil Code was amended to read: Marriage is the lawful union of two people who remain faithful to each other and who create together a shared life with mutual support.^[b]

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Nuevo León since legalization in 2019 as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.^[30]

A 2017 opinion poll conducted by the Strategic Communication Office (Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica) found that 48% of Nuevo León residents supported same-sex marriage, while 49% were opposed.^[31] According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 44% of the Nuevo León public opposed same-sex marriage.^[32]

• Same-sex marriage in Mexico
• LGBT rights in Mexico