Same-sex marriage in Veracruz

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 (Spanish pronunciation: [amˈpaɾo]; Nahuatl: manauili; Totonac: xalitakgawa; Huastec: tonkixtalab; Tepehua: ixpulaklo’oxikan) 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]

The Constitution of Veracruz does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriages. Article 6 of the Constitution states that "the State will promote the necessary conditions for the full enjoyment of liberty, equality, security and non-discrimination of the people".^[3][4][5][6]

In February 2014, a same-sex couple, Javier Olivares García and Víctor Durán Sáenz, applied for a marriage license at the civil registry office in Veracruz, but were denied by city officials. They subsequently filed an amparo, which was granted by a federal judge on 22 July.^[7][8] Despite this ruling, the registrar initially refused to schedule their ceremony. After presenting their amparo to the registrar in Boca del Río, the marriage was scheduled for 6 December, making theirs the first same-sex marriage in Veracruz.^[9] On 29 January 2015, the LGBT group Community Jarochos (Comunidad Jarochos), announced that a lesbian couple had also been granted an amparo and would marry on 4 April.^[10] The group further reported that there were eight additional amparos pending.^[11] Four more couples filed amparos on 16 May 2016,^[12] and on 26 May three couples were granted the right to marry.^[13] A lawsuit challenging article 75 of the Civil Code, which defined marriage as the "union of a man and a woman", was filed on 20 July 2017 with the Fourth District Court.^[14][15] On 7 November 2017, Judge José Loranca Luna declared the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.^[16] Guillermo Izacur Maldonado, president of Comunidad Jarochos, stated that the ruling was a "general injunction" applying to all same-sex couples in Veracruz and that, consequently, same-sex marriage should be considered legal in the state.^[17] Nevertheless, state officials announced that they would continue to enforce the ban despite the court's decision.^[18] By August 2017, 18 same-sex marriages had been performed in Veracruz,^[19] increasing to 69 by early 2019,^[20] and to 150 by July 2020.^[21] All these marriages were carried out through the recurso de amparo remedy.

Civil union legislation was first proposed in Veracruz in 2014. In March 2014, Deputy Cuauhtémoc Pola Estrada from the Citizens' Movement party introduced a partnership bill to the Congress of Veracruz.^[22] The bill was opposed by the governing parties and saw little legislation action. Pola Estrada introduced a same-sex marriage bill in July 2014.^[23] In September, he said it was awaiting reviews by legislative committees.^[24] In April 2015, citing disappointment with the legislative inaction, the State Human Rights Commission announced its intention to propose another bill.^[25] In July 2016, Deputy Mónica Robles Barajas from the Ecologist Green Party submitted another measure to legalize same-sex marriage.^[26] These bills saw very little legislative progress due to opposition from the governing National Action Party (PAN).^[27]

In July 2018, as one of the last actions of the legislative term, the National Action Party submitted a proposal to Congress to explicitly ban same-sex marriage in the State Constitution. It failed to pass, with 32 deputies in favor, 10 against and 2 absentions. As 33 votes were needed to amend the Constitution, the measure failed by one vote.^[28] The July 2018 elections resulted in the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which supports the legalization of same-sex marriage, winning the governorship and the majority of legislative seats in Congress.

On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz passed a cohabitation bill by a vote of 35–14. The law grants cohabitating couples, different-sex or same-sex, the same rights, benefits and obligations as married couples.^[29][30] The law was published in the official state journal on 10 June,^[31] following Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez's signature, and went into effect the following day. The legislation defines cohabitation as follows: Concubinage is the de facto union between two people who are not bound by a contract, are both free from marriage, and have decided to share their lives in mutual support.^[b]

On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz amended state family law to recognize same-sex cohabitation but left the same-sex marriage ban in place. Shortly following the law's publication in the official state journal on 10 June, the National Human Rights Commission filed an action of unconstitutionality (acción de inconstitucionalidad; docketed 144/2020) against the state of Veracruz, contesting the constitutionality of the new cohabitation law and various articles of the Civil Code that banned same-sex marriage.^[33] This lawsuit sought to fully legalize same-sex marriage in the state, similarly to what had happened in numerous other states, including Jalisco (2016), Chiapas (2017), Puebla (2017), Aguascalientes (2019), and Nuevo León (2019). On 30 May 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 10–0 that article 75 of the Civil Code, which banned same-sex marriage, was void and unconstitutional.^[34] The decision would officially take effect upon publication in the Official Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación), but state civil registry officials had the possibility to implement the decision immediately.^[35][36]

On 2 June, three days after the Supreme Court ruling, the Congress of Veracruz passed legislation by 36 votes to 4 amending state law to define marriage as the union of "two people". The bill had been introduced two months prior on 5 April by deputies Gonzalo Durán Chincoya and Ramón Diaz Ávila.^[37][38] It was published in the official state journal on 13 June, following Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez's signature, and took effect that same day.^[39] The first same-sex couple to marry in Veracruz under the new law were Wendy Segovia Aguilar and Lucía González Cruz in San Andrés Tuxtla on 15 June 2022.^[40] Article 75 of the Civil Code of Veracruz was amended to read: Marriage is the union of two individuals, formalized through a civil contract, who freely decide to share a joint life project founded on an affectionate relationship marked by permanence, cooperation, and mutual support, and without any legal impediment.^[c]

By February 2023, approximately 240 same-sex marriages had taken place in the state, mostly in the city of Veracruz and Xalapa. Five same-sex divorces were performed in the same time period.^[42]

According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 54% of the Veracruz public opposed same-sex marriage, the fourth highest in Mexico.^[43]