The Congress of Querétaro, one of Mexico’s most conservative states, approved same sex marriage on Wednesday with 21 of 25 lawmakers voting in favor of legalization.
Same-sex couples can now legally marry in 23 of Mexico’s 32 states. The approval in Querétaro, a deeply religious state governed by the conservative National Action Party, came one month after the Congress of Yucatán approved gay marriage and three months after the legislatures of Baja California and Sinaloa voted in favor of marriage equality.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that civil codes that bar same-sex marriage are unconstitutional but some states have not changed their laws, forcing gay couples to apply for injunctions in order to get married within their borders.
Mexico City was the first entity to legalize gay marriage, doing so in 2010. The states where same-sex marriage has not been legalized are Durango, México state, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Sonora, Tabasco, Tamaulipas, Veracruz and Zacatecas.
