Same-sex marriage was approved in Baja California and Sinaloa this week after being rejected previously in both states.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that bans on same-sex marriage are unconstitutional, and the same year the National Commission of Human Rights advised that laws should be adapted at the state level to widen the definition of marriage.

In Sinaloa, where a proposal was rejected in 2019, supporters celebrated outside the state Congress as the law passed with 18 votes in favor and 17 abstentions.

Solidary Encounter Party (PES) Deputy Karla de Lourdes Montero Alatorre addressed legislators who opposed the bill, and chastised comments they had made: “No rights are being taken away from you,” she said.

“I have heard comments like: ‘My religion does not allow me,’ ‘I am not homophobic, but that doesn’t sit with me,’ ‘After a while they will want to marry a dog,’ and the stupidest of all: ‘God created Adam and Eve; not Adam and Steve,’” she added.

Party of Sinaloa (PAS) Deputy Angélica Díaz Quiñonez said that although she believes in a traditional definition of marriage, she voted in favor of the law out of respect for the constitution.

In Baja California the law passed with 18 votes in favor, four against and one abstention, and now requires approval in three of the state’s five local governments.

The adjustment eliminates the specification of marriage as “… aimed at guaranteeing and safeguarding the perpetuation of the species () through the union of a man with a woman.”

There have been previous attempts to change the law in Baja California: a bishop led a protest outside of the State Congress when a deputy tried to present a proposal in 2019, and proposals were twice rejected in 2020.

Morena Deputy Juan Manuel Molina said he was convinced that the move had public support. “There were positions against and for, but the citizens had been informed by several deputies and on June 6 they overwhelmingly voted for us … that for me was a clear sign that citizens are not against the issue,” he said.

“Human rights are not up for discussion,” he added.

With reports from Reforma