Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

has been legal in Colima since 12 June 2016. On 25 May 2016, a bill to legalise

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

passed the

Congress of Colima The Congress of the State of Colima (aka Congress of Colima) is the legislative branch of the government of the State of Colima. The Congress of Colima is a unicameral legislature. The Congress consist of 25 local deputies (16 elected by the f ...

and was published as law in the state's official journal on 11 June. It came into effect the next day. Colima had previously recognized same-sex

civil unions A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

, but this "separate but equal" treatment of granting civil unions to same-sex couples and

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

to opposite-sex couples was declared discriminatory by the

Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ( es, Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) is the Mexican institution serving as the country's federal high court and the spearhead organisation for the judiciary of the Mexican Federal Go ...

in June 2015. Congress had passed a civil union bill in 2013 but repealed it in 2016 shortly before the legalization of same-sex marriage.

Civil unions

On 4 July 2013, the

approved an amendment to article 147 of the State Constitution to establish same-sex

( es, enlace conyugal, ). Within 30 days, seven of Colima's ten municipalities had approved the constitutional change. A group of citizens filed a

lawsuit - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

challenging the reform, arguing that providing only civil unions to same-sex couples and

to opposite-sex couples was

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

on the basis of

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

. On 18 March 2015, a district court judge declared that "separate but equal treatment is discriminatory" and unconstitutional. The decision also stated that section 201 of the Civil Code, which defined gendered roles for men and women, was discriminatory and reiterated that

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

open to heterosexual married couples must also be open to same-sex couples. Shortly after the ruling, a local

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

group announced it would help any couple who joined in a civil union to receive a

marriage license A marriage license (or marriage licence in Commonwealth spelling) is a document issued, either by a religious organization or state authority, authorizing a couple to marry. The procedure for obtaining a license varies between jurisdiction ...

. The state

appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

ed the ruling, and on 17 June 2015 the

Mexican Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ( es, Suprema Corte de Justicia de la Nación (SCJN) is the Mexican institution serving as the country's federal high court and the spearhead organisation for the judiciary of the Mexican Federal Go ...

agreed that the "separate but equal" union laws violated the Constitution of Mexico. The state subsequently announced that it would repeal article 147 and pass a same-sex marriage law. On 5 May 2016, Congress unanimously repealed the civil union provisions. All unions performed before the repeal are recognized by the state and can be converted into marriage upon request.

Same-sex marriage

Background

On 22 January 2013, the civil registrar of Cuauhtémoc received a request for a marriage license from a same-sex couple. After a team of lawyers reviewed the petition, Mayor

Indira Vizcaíno Silva Indira Vizcaíno Silva (born 14 January 1987) is a Mexican politician from the Morena party. From 2009 to 2012 she served as Deputy of the LXI Legislature of the Mexican Congress representing Colima. In 2021, she became the second female Governo ...

granted the first marriage license to a same-sex couple in Colima on 27 February 2013. The

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

performed a second same-sex marriage (and the first lesbian union) on 25 March 2013. A third same-sex marriage in Cuauhtémoc was held on 4 April 2013 for a lesbian couple, and the registrar announced at the time that there were 20 to 30 additional marriages scheduled on the calendar. Vizcaíno Silva said in March 2013 that a local

survey Survey may refer to: Statistics and human research * Statistical survey, a method for collecting quantitative information about items in a population * Survey (human research), including opinion polls Spatial measurement * Surveying, the techniq ...

had shown that eight out of ten residents supported the municipality's decision to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. In June 2013, Judge Rosa Lilia Vargas Valle of the Second District Court ruled that the Colima Civil Code was unconstitutional in limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Constitutional ban

On 4 July 2013, alongside formalizing civil unions, the state Congress also approved an amendment to article 147 of the Colima Constitution defining marriage as the "union between a man and a woman", thus constitutionally banning same-sex marriage. Congress voted unanimously to repeal article 147 on 5 May 2016, ending civil unions and removing the same-sex marriage ban.

Legislative action

Following the Mexican Supreme Court's ruling on 17 June 2015 that a "separate but equal" treatment for same-sex couples is discriminatory and unconstitutional, the

Party of the Democratic Revolution The Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD, es, Partido de la Revolución Democrática, ) is a social democratic political party in Mexico. The PRD originated from the Democratic Current, a political faction formed in 1986 from the Institut ...

(PRD) submitted a same-sex marriage bill to Congress. The law would ensure that married same-sex couples enjoy the same rights, benefits and responsibilities as married opposite-sex couples, including

tax benefits Tax deduction is a reduction of income that is able to be taxed and is commonly a result of expenses, particularly those incurred to produce additional income. Tax deductions are a form of tax incentives, along with exemptions and tax credits. T ...

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

rights, property rights,

inheritance Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, Title (property), titles, debts, entitlements, Privilege (law), privileges, rights, and Law of obligations, obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ ...

, adoption rights, etc. A vote on the legislation was scheduled for May 2016.Anula Congreso Enlaces Conyugales
The bill was approved on 25 May 2016 in a unanimous 24–0 vote. It was published in the state's official journal on 11 June, following Governor José Ignacio Peralta's signature, and came into effect the following day.

Statistics

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Colima as reported by the

National Institute of Statistics and Geography The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI by its name in es, Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática) is an autonomous agency of the Mexican Government dedicated to coordinate the National System of Stat ...

Public opinion

A 2017 opinion poll conducted by ''Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica'' found that 47% of Colima residents supported same-sex marriage; another 47% were opposed. According to a 2018 survey by the

, 39% of the Colima public opposed same-sex marriage.

References

External links

Text of the Colima same-sex marriage law
in Spanish {{DEFAULTSORT:Same-Sex Marriage in Colima Colima Colima 2016 in LGBT history