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

is performed and recognized in all municipalities of the state of

Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ( , ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Quintana Roo), is one of the 31 states which, with Mexico City, constitute the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 11 mu ...

. The first two

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

s occurred in Kantunilkin on 28 November 2011 after it was discovered that the state's Civil Code does not specify

sex or gender Though the terms '' sex'' and ''gender'' have been used interchangeably since at least the fourteenth century, in contemporary academic literature they usually have distinct meanings. ''Sex'' generally refers to an organism's biological sex, while ...

requirements for

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 ...

. However, future same-sex marriages were suspended in January 2012 upon review by the state's Secretary General of Government. The two same-sex marriages in the state were annulled by the

Governor of Quintana Roo The governors of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, since statehood. Governors of the Free and Sovereign State of Quintana Roo since 1975 *Note: In 2001 Mario E. Villanueva was sentenced to prison due to corruption involving Mexican drug war ...

, Roberto Borge Angulo, in April 2012, but these annulments were reversed by the Secretary General of Government on 3 May. The Secretary's decision allows for future same-sex marriages to be performed in

. Quintana Roo was the first Mexican state, and the second jurisdiction in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

after

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

, to legalize same-sex marriage. Further legislation and rulings from the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation that same-sex marriage bans violate the

Constitution of Mexico The Constitution of Mexico, formally the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States ( es, Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos), is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in th ...

have expanded same-sex marriage to every state.

Legal history

The Civil Code of Quintana Roo does not define

gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...

requirements for

, specifying only "people interested in getting married". A same-sex couple, Patricia Novelo and Areli Castro, applied for 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 jurisdictio ...

Cancún Cancún ( ), often Cancun in English (without the accent; or ) is a city in southeast Mexico on the northeast coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. It is a significant tourist destination in Mexico and the seat ...

and

Chetumal Chetumal (, , ; yua, label= Yucatec Maya, Chactemàal , ) is a city on the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico. It is the capital of the state of Quintana Roo and the municipal seat of the Municipality of Othón P. Blanco. In 2020 ...

after discovering this legal quirk, but both cities rejected their applications, arguing that a heterosexual marriage was implied. The couple then applied in Lázaro Cárdenas Municipality, where authorities accepted the application. Quintana Roo's first two same-sex marriages were held in the community of Kantunilkín on 28 November 2011. Cancún and other resort areas in Quintana Roo planned to hold a same-sex group wedding in January 2012. Newspaper '' Reforma'' reported that upcoming ceremonies were suspended following an order by the Quintana Roo Secretary General of Government, Luis González Flores, to review the legality of the ceremonies. In April 2012, both marriages were annulled by Roberto Borge Angulo, the

. In May 2012, the Secretary General of Government reversed the annulments. The next month, both marriages became legal because there was no estoppel in due time. González Flores announced that same-sex marriages are legal in all the

municipalities of Quintana Roo Quintana Roo is a state in southeast Mexico established out of the Quintana Roo Territory in 1974 with seven municipalities, which has since grown into eleven municipalities. According to the 2020 Mexican census, it has the twenty-fourth larges ...

. However, in 2013, a lesbian couple were denied the right to marry and forced to obtain an '' amparo'' in

Tulum Tulum (, yua, Tulu'um) is the site of a pre-Columbian Mayan walled city which served as a major port for Coba, in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The ruins are situated on cliffs along the east coast of the Yucatán Peninsula on the Carib ...

. The court concluded that discriminatory acts had occurred and ordered the state to prevent further discrimination against same-sex couples, requiring all civil registry offices in Quintana Roo to process marriage applications from same-sex couples. In September 2014,

Bacalar Municipality Bacalar is one of the ten municipalities of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. The municipal seat and most populous town is the eponymous Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of ...

approved changes to equalize procedures for all marriages. Officials in

Playa del Carmen Playa del Carmen, known colloquially as 'Playa', is a resort city located along the Caribbean Sea in the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is part of the municipality of Solidaridad. As of 2020, the city's population was just over 300,000 peopl ...

announced that same-sex couples could begin marrying in 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 ...

from the last week of September 2014. The municipality of Othón P. Blanco announced that their first same-sex marriage would occur on 26 November 2014, and the municipality of

José María Morelos José María Teclo Morelos Pérez y Pavón () (30 September 1765 – 22 December 1815) was a Mexican Catholic priest, statesman and military leader who led the Mexican War of Independence movement, assuming its leadership after the execution of ...

announced in 2017 that it had equalized procedures for all marriages. Marriage services are also available in

Yucatec Maya Yucatec Maya (; referred to by its speakers simply as Maya or as , is one of the 32 Mayan languages of the Mayan language family. Yucatec Maya is spoken in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. There is also a significant diasporic commu ...

Legislative action

In November 2014, it was announced that a bill to officially legalize same-sex marriage in the state would be introduced and voted on in the current

legislative session A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two election ...

, thereby replacing the

loophole A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow ver ...

used by couples. In May 2017, after legislative inaction, another same-sex marriage bill was introduced to the

Congress of Quintana Roo The Congress of Quintana Roo is the legislature of Quintana Roo, a state of Mexico. The Congress is unicameral. See also *List of Mexican state congresses External linksOfficial website Government of Quintana Roo Quintana Roo Quintana Roo ...

Adoption by same-sex couples

In January 2018, a married same-sex couple in

Puerto Morelos Puerto Morelos () is a town and seaport in Quintana Roo, Mexico's easternmost state, on the Yucatán Peninsula. The town is located in the northeast of the state, about south of the resort city of Cancún, and about north of the city of Playa de ...

were granted the right to register their child. In April 2018, with the help of the State Human Rights Commission, a same-sex couple in the city of Cancún were also allowed to register their newborn son. According to 2021 statistics from the civil registry, there are about 30 to 40 cases of lesbian couples registering their children in the state every year.

Marriage statistics

As of mid-December 2014, officials announced that there had been 14 same-sex marriages in Quintana Roo. 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 ...

announced that there had been 163 same-sex marriages in 2018, of which 96 (59%) had been between lesbian couples and 67 (41%) between male couples. According to data from the civil registry, most same-sex marriages in 2018 took place in the northern region, particularly in the municipalities of

Benito Juárez Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...

Solidaridad The Solidaridad Network is an international civil society organisation founded in 1969. Its main objective is facilitating the development of socially responsible, ecologically sound and profitable supply chains. It operates through eight regio ...

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucat� ...

Isla Mujeres Isla Mujeres (, Spanish for "Women Island" (formally “Isla de Mujeres”) is an island where the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea meet, about off the Yucatán Peninsula coast in the State of Quintana Roo, Mexico. It is approximately long ...

and

, but also

Bacalar Bacalar () is the municipal seat and largest city in Bacalar Municipality (until 2011 a part of Othón P. Blanco Municipality) in the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, about north of Chetumal, at 18° 40' 37" N, 88° 23' 43" W. In the 2010 census ...

in the south. From January to August 2018, only 3 same-sex marriages were performed in Othón P. Blanco Municipality, and one same-sex couple married in

José María Morelos Municipality José María Morelos is one of the eleven municipalities that make up the Mexican state of Quintana Roo. Geography Like most of the Yucatan Peninsula José María Morelos is entirely flat with a gentle slope towards the sea, so from west to ea ...

in that same time period. 277 same-sex marriages were performed in 2019, of which 139 were between two men and 138 between two women. In 2020, 210 same-sex marriages were performed in Quintana Roo; 107 between two men and 103 between two women.

Public opinion

A 2017 opinion poll conducted by found that 56% of Quintana Roo residents supported same-sex marriage, while 37.5% were opposed. According to a 2018 survey by the

, 38% of the Quintana Roo public opposed same-sex marriage.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Same-Sex Marriage in Quintana Roo Quintana Roo

2012 in LGBT history