Mexico holds mass weddings to mark 10 years of same-sex marriage legalisation

The Mexico City government held a mass wedding for homosexuals on March 15 to mark the 10 years of legal recognition of same-sex marriage. The legal recognition to same-sex marriage in Mexico City came into effect in March 2010 after it was approved by its Legislative Assembly and signed into law by the head of government in December 2019.

The mass wedding witnessed the participation of 140 same-sex couples in Mexico City, the first region in Mexico to reform its civil code. Civil Registry chief Manuel Becerra reportedly acknowledged the difficulty in attaining the rights and said expressed relief that they are now moving towards a free society and promoting inclusion, respect and equality.

Mexico’s legal services department said that over 13,000 same-sex unions have been registered in the capital. After the civil code reforms, same-sex marriages performed in Mexico are recognised by 32 states without exception. In the 32 states, 19 of them fully allow the union same-sex union while the other states allow it after a legal appeal. Mexico City has also revised the gender of 4,789 transgender individuals since 2015 following the legal recognition and Supreme Court’s ruling. 

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'Union of two people'

In 2009, Mexican politician and legislator David Razú had proposed a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Mexico City and got the backing from the chairman of the Humans Rights Commission of the capital. The bill later changed the definition from “a free union between a man and a woman” to “a free union between two people”.

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The Mexican Supreme Court ruled, in 2015, that bans on same-sex marriage were unconstitutional, which standardised the procedures throughout Mexico to approve all applications for same-sex marriages. The Civil Registry said in a statement said the marriages and identity changes are part of its human rights strategies and added that it also contemplates information campaigns about paperwork and services in a 'Rainbow Caravan’.

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(With inputs from agencies)