Same-sex marriage has been legal in the State of Mexico since 2 November 2022. On 11 October 2022, the Congress of the State of Mexico voted 50âÂÂ16 with 6 abstentions to pass a bill legalizing same-sex marriage. It was signed by Governor Alfredo del Mazo Maza, published in the official state gazette on 1 November, and took effect the next day. The State of Mexico was the 29th Mexican state to open marriage to same-sex couples.
The Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ruled on 12 June 2015 that state bans on same-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 seek individual amparos in court. The ruling standardized the procedures for judges and courts throughout Mexico 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 the Constitution of Mexico. Article 1 of the Constitution states:
On 15 February 2013, four same-sex couples applied to marry at the civil registry office in Toluca. Officials refused to issue them marriage licenses, and the couples consequently filed an in court. On 24 June 2013, a federal judge granted the , ruling that the articles of the Civil Code that prohibited same-sex couples from marrying were discriminatory. The state appealed the decision. An appellate court declared itself unable to resolve the dispute in January 2014, and the case was heard by the Supreme Court in November 2014. On 25 February 2015, the Supreme Court granted the , and declared the Civil Code unconstitutional and discriminatory. A lesbian couple, one of the four plaintiff couples, became the first same-sex couple to marry in the state on 18 April 2015. Two more were granted in Toluca in late October 2017. One of the two couples married in December 2017, making them the first male couple to marry in the state. By December 2017, six same-sex couples had been granted .
A popular initiative for the legalization of civil unions was introduced to the Congress of the State of Mexico in 2008, but stalled and was never voted on. In 2010, an initiative to legalize same-sex marriage was introduced to Congress, but also stalled. After three years of legislative inaction, Deputy Octavio MartÃÂnez Vargas from the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) introduced a same-sex marriage bill to Congress in 2013. In January 2014, MartÃÂnez Vargas said that the PRD would continue to press for the legalization of same-sex marriage. In January 2015, Israfil Filós Real, the president of the Vulnerable Groups Civil Association (), called on lawmakers to pass the same-sex marriage bill. Subsequently, Governor Eruviel ÃÂvila Villegas submitted a new marriage bill, while the PRD submitted a proposal to legalize adoption by same-sex couples on 5 March 2015. A Congress session to discuss Governor ÃÂvila Villegas' bill was scheduled for 31 May 2016. However, two political parties, the National Action Party (PAN) and the New Alliance Party (PANAL), requested more time to study the proposal. José Manzur Quiroga, the Secretary General of Government (), said the bill would be voted on during Congress' following extraordinary legislative session, though eventually no vote took place. The July 2018 elections resulted in the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), which supports the legalization of same-sex marriage, winning the majority of legislative seats in Congress. Nevertheless, progress on the legalization of same-sex marriage continued to stall for the following four years.
Another same-sex marriage bill was introduced to Congress in 2022 by Deputy Daniel Sibaja González from the National Regeneration Movement. A vote in a Congress committee was scheduled for the second week of September 2022. The vote was delayed until 23 September, and a plenary vote was scheduled for October. On 23 September, the committee vote was postponed to the following week. The committee approved the bill on 27 September. A final, plenary vote was scheduled for Tuesday, 11 October 2022. The bill passed Congress on 11 October by 50 votes to 16. It was published in the official state journal on 1 November, following Governor Alfredo del Mazo Maza's signature, and took effect the next day. The first same-sex marriage performed under the new law occurred on 2 November in Coacalco de Berriozábal between Leticia Chávez Rivera and MarÃÂa Pérez Vilchis. Article 4bis of the Civil Code was amended to read: Marriage is an institution of a public nature and social interest, through which two people, freely and voluntarily, decide to share a state of life in pursuit of their personal and conjugal fulfillment, under the formalities and solemnities established by this Code.
The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in the State of Mexico since 2022 as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
According to a 2018 survey by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography, 38% of the State of Mexico public opposed same-sex marriage.