| Part of theLGBTQ rights series |
Recognized |
Civil unions or registered partnerships but not marriage |
See also
|
Notes
|
 LGBTQ portal |
Same-sex marriage has been legal inVeracruz since 13 June 2022. On 30 May 2022, theMexican Supreme Court ruled that the state's same-sex marriage ban violated Articles 1 and 4 of theConstitution of Mexico. The ruling was meant to take effect upon publication in theOfficial Journal of the Federation, but theCongress of Veracruz passed a bill to legalize same-sex marriage just three days later, on 2 June. The law was published in the official state journal on 13 June and went into effect the same day.
Veracruz has also recognised gender-neutralconcubinage, granting same-sex cohabitating couples all of the rights and obligations ofmarriage, includingadoption, since 11 June 2020.
TheSupreme Court ruled on 12 June 2015 that state bans onsame-sex marriage are unconstitutional nationwide. The court's ruling is considered a "jurisprudential thesis" and did not invalidate state laws, meaning that same-sex couples denied the right to marry would still have to seekamparos in court. The ruling standardized the procedures for judges and courts throughoutMexico to approve all applications for same-sex marriages and made the approval mandatory. Specifically, the court ruled that bans on same-sex marriage violate Articles 1 and 4 of theConstitution of Mexico. Article 1 of the Constitution states that "any form of discrimination, based on ethnic or national origin, gender, age, disabilities, social status, medical conditions, religion, opinions, sexual orientation, marital status, or any other form, which violates the human dignity or seeks to annul or diminish the rights and freedoms of the people, is prohibited", and Article 4 relates to matrimonial equality, stating that "man and woman are equal under the law. The law shall protect the organization and development of the family."[a] The Constitution of Veracruz does not expressly prohibit same-sex marriages. Article 6 of the Constitution states that "the State will promote the necessary conditions for the full enjoyment of liberty, equality, security and non-discrimination of the people".[3][4][5][6]
In February 2014, Javier Darío Olivares García and Víctor Manuel Durán Sáenz applied for amarriage license at the civil registry office in the city ofVeracruz. The couple were turned down, and subsequently filed anamparo in court, which was granted by a federal judge on 22 July 2014.[7][8] Despite the approval, the registrar refused to schedule a ceremony for the couple. After presenting theiramparo to the registrar inBoca del Río, the marriage was scheduled for 6 December 2014. Their wedding was the first same-sex marriage in Veracruz.[9] On 29 January 2015, a local LGBT group,Comunidad Jarochos, announced that alesbian couple had won anamparo and would marry on 4 April 2015.[10] The group also announced that there were 8 pendingamparos in the state.[11] Four additional couples filedamparos in court on 16 May 2016.[12] Three couples (two lesbian couples and one male couple) were granted the right to marry on 26 May 2016.[13] 18 same-sex marriages had been performed in Veracruz by August 2017.[14] By early 2019, this had increased to 69 marriages,[15] and to 150 marriages by July 2020.[16] All these couples married using therecurso de amparo remedy.
Alawsuit challenging article 75 of the Civil Code, which defined marriage as the "union of a man and a woman", was filed on 20 July 2017 with the Fourth District Court.[17][18] On 7 November 2017, Judge José Arquímedes Gregorio Loranca Luna declared the state's same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.[19] Guillermo Izacur Maldonado, president ofComunidad Jarochos, argued that the ruling was a "general injunction" that covers every same-sex couple in the state and that same-sex marriage should thus effectively be legal in the state as a result of this court decision.[20] However, state officials announced they would continue to enforce the state's same-sex marriage ban despite the court ruling.[21]
Civil union legislation was first proposed in Veracruz in 2014. In March 2014, Deputy Cuauhtémoc Pola Estrada from theCitizens' Movement party introduced a partnership bill to the Congress of Veracruz.[22] The bill was opposed by the governing parties and saw little legislation action. In July 2014, Pola Estrada introduced a proposal to amend article 75 of the Civil Code to legalize same-sex marriage.[23] In September 2014, he confirmed that the bill was still awaiting reviews by legislative committees.[24] In April 2015, citing disappointment with the legislative inaction, the president of the State Human Rights Commission announced his intention to propose a new same-sex marriage bill.[25] In July 2016, Deputy Mónica Robles Barajas from theEcologist Green Party submitted another measure to legalize same-sex marriage.[26] These bills saw very little legislative progress due to opposition from the governingNational Action Party (PAN).[27]
In July 2018, as one of its last actions before leaving office, PAN submitted a proposal to Congress to explicitly ban same-sex marriage in the State Constitution. It failed to pass, with 32 deputies in favor, 10 against and 2 absentions. As 33 votes were needed to amend the Constitution, the measure failed by one vote.[28] TheJuly 2018 elections resulted in theNational Regeneration Movement (MORENA) winning the majority of legislative seats in Congress and the governorship. MORENA had expressed support for same-sex marriage in its party platform ahead of the election.
On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz passed acohabitation bill by a vote of 35–12. The law grants cohabitating couples, different-sex or same-sex, the same rights, benefits and obligations as married couples.[29][30] The law was published in the official state journal on 10 June,[31] following the signature of GovernorCuitláhuac García Jiménez, and went into effect the following day. The legislation defines cohabitation as follows:
| Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 National Regeneration Movement | 31 | 26 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
 National Action Party | 13 | 2 | 11 | ||
 Institutional Revolutionary Party | 3 | 3 | |||
 Citizens' Movement | 2 | 2 | |||
 Party of the Democratic Revolution | 1 | 1 | |||
 Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 1 | 1 | |||
 Social Encounter Party | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 50 | 35 | 12 | 2 | 1 |
Three days after the Mexican Supreme Court struck down the state's same-sex marriage ban in an action of unconstitutionality on 30 May 2022, the Congress of Veracruz passed legislation amending state law to define marriage as the union of "two people". The bill had been introduced two months prior on 5 April by deputies Gonzalo Durán Chincoya and Ramón Diaz Ávila. The law was passed by 36 votes to 4.[32][33] It was published in the official state journal on 13 June, following Governor Cuitláhuac García Jiménez's signature, and took effect that same day.[34] The first same-sex couple to marry in Veracruz under the new law were Wendy Arlette Segovia Aguilar and Lucía Marisol González Cruz inSan Andrés Tuxtla on 15 June 2022.[35]
Article 75 of the Civil Code of Veracruz was amended to read:
| Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Regeneration Movement | 31 | 23 | 8 | ||
| National Action Party | 9 | 5 | 4 | ||
| Institutional Revolutionary Party | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||
| Citizens' Movement | 2 | 2 | |||
 Labor Party | 2 | 2 | |||
| Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 2 | 2 | |||
 Force for Mexico | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 50 | 36 | 4 | 0 | 10 |
On 28 May 2020, the Congress of Veracruz amended state family law to recognize same-sex cohabitation but at the same time it did not repeal the state's same-sex marriage ban. Shortly following the law's publication in the official state journal on 10 June, theNational Human Rights Commission filed an action of unconstitutionality (acción de inconstitucionalidad; docketed 144/2020) against the state of Veracruz, contesting the constitutionality of the new cohabitation law and various articles of the Civil Code that banned same-sex marriage.[36] This lawsuit sought to fully legalize same-sex marriage in the state, similarly to what happened in numerous other states, includingJalisco (2016),Chiapas (2017),Puebla (2017),Aguascalientes (2019), andNuevo León (2019).
On 30 May 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 10–0 that article 75 of the Civil Code, which banned same-sex marriage, was void and unconstitutional.[37] The decision would officially take effect upon publication in theOfficial Journal of the Federation (Diario Oficial de la Federación), but state civil registry officials had the possibility to implement the decision immediately.[38] Congress passed a same-sex marriage bill just three days later, legalizing same-sex marriage in Veracruz. The court ruling was published in theOfficial Journal on 20 October 2022.[39]
By February 2023, approximately 240 same-sex marriages had taken place in the state, mostly in the city of Veracruz andXalapa. Fivesame-sex divorces were performed in the same time period.[40]
According to a 2018 survey by theNational Institute of Statistics and Geography, 54% of the Veracruz public opposed same-sex marriage, the fourth highest in Mexico.[41]
