Zacatecas lawmakers approved same-sex marriage on Tuesday, making it the 25th state in the country where two people of the same gender can legally marry.
The bill passed with 18 votes in favor, 10 against and one abstention, and reformed family law in the Morena-governed state. Immediately after the vote passed, supporters of the reform observing the vote in the gallery broke out into applause and cheers and began a chant of “Si se pudo!” or “Yes, we could!”
The state’s first transgender candidate for governor, Fernanda Salomé Perera, who ran in the June 6 elections for the Redes Sociales Progresistas Party (RSP), expressed joy at the bill’s approval and criticized lawmakers who voted against it.
“We’re very happy that in this legislature, finally … it was achieved. I’m overjoyed at the large number of deputies who joined. I was very sad that some who we thought were going to be in favor of the [LGBT] community voted against. What a shame and what a pity for those types of deputies, but the good news is that equal marriage is approved in Zacatecas,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Zacatecas expressed its disapproval in a statement.
Supporters react to the Zacatecas legislature voting to legalize same-sex marriage.Con 18 votos a favor el #MatrimonioIgualitario es realidad en #Zacatecas. En este estado, todos somos iguales ante la ley. #AmorEsAmor 🏳️🌈🙋🏻♂️ pic.twitter.com/AkGkvrhbal
— Xerardo RM (@XerardoRM) December 15, 2021
“Their vote in favor is a hard blow to the family, a fundamental institution of society and does nothing to contribute to the search for solutions to the real problems of Zacatecans,” the statement said. “It is worrying that in the discourse there is talk of values, of rebuilding the social fabric, but with these actions, the basic unit of society is attacked.”
The state Congress voted two years ago on the question of reforming state marriage laws, but the vote failed by a close vote of 13 to 11, with two abstentions.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that civil codes defining marriage as between a man and a woman or for the sole purpose of procreation were unconstitutional, but some states have still not changed their laws, meaning that in order to get married within their borders same-sex couples must apply for a marriage license with their local civil registry, be rejected and then file for an injunction and wait for their case to move through the system.
Mexico City was the first entity to recognize gay marriage, doing so in 2010. The states where same-sex marriage has not been fully legalized are Durango, México state, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Tabasco, Tamaulipas and Veracruz.
With reports from Milenio
