Cheers and the waving of rainbow flags by supporters greeted Tlaxcala’s Congress after it voted 16-3 on Tuesday to approve same-sex marriage.

“It’s to be celebrated that on this day, after more than a decade since it was approved in … Mexico City, marriage equality in the state of Tlaxcala has become [a reality]. The Congress is doing their part in Tlaxcala,” said Leticia Hernández, a National Action Party deputy.

The newly updated legislation in Tlaxcala, originally proposed by Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) lawmaker Miguel Ángel Covarrubias Cervantes, changes the state’s civil code by defining marriage as between two consenting people 18 or older whose objective is to create a communal life together in which both persons are guaranteed respect, equality and mutual assistance.

PRD lawmaker Laura Flores Lozano said legislators could not turn their backs on a sector of the public that demanded that equal marriage be legal to eradicate discrimination and guarantee a legitimate right.

The conservative Social Encounter Party was one of the parties opposing the change. It called the legislation unfortunate and said “the term marriage is left empty of meaning.” Party officials also said it eliminated legal support for the family.

Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family, told the newspaper El Universal that the legislators who voted for the bill had not prioritized the family and its needs.

Despite Hernández’s support for the vote, not all PAN lawmakers agreed. During the debate on the bill, Omar López Avendaño also rejected the legislation, saying the bill did not cover the issues of procreation, adoption, and the education of children of same-sex couples.

Twenty-two states now permit same-sex marriages, either fully or partially. By order of the Supreme Court, all states are required to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states. The court has also ordered Sinaloa and Tamaulipas to legalize same-sex marriage in their states after declaring their civil codes unconstitutional.

In three states, Guerrero, Querétaro, and Zacatecas, it is permitted in certain municipalities. Last month, Puebla changed its civil code to legalize same-sex marriage after the court struck down the code’s legality in 2017 because it defined marriage and common-law marriage as between a man and a woman.

The first entity in Mexico to approve same-sex marriage was Mexico City in March 2010, followed by Quintana Roo in 2012.

Sources: El Universal (sp), Reporte Índigo (sp), Animal Político (sp)