Same-sex marriage in Chihuahua
Same-sex marriages are performed and recognized in all municipalities in the Mexican state of Chihuahua as of 12 June 2015, according to a decree by the governor of the state.[1] By statute, in Mexico, if any five rulings of the Supreme Court on a single issue result in the same outcome, legislatures are bound to change the law.[2] In the case of Chihuahua, more than 20 individual amparos (injunctions) were decided with the same outcome, yet the legislature did not act. In anticipation of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation ordering the Congress to act, the governor announced there would be no further prohibition in the state.
History
State legislative action
In December 2012, lawmakers were presented with a proposal to amend Article 143 of the Civil Code of the State of Chihuahua, granting marriage equality.[3] After years with no legislative action, in July 2014, the PAN bloc announced that they would consider approving Civil Unions in the state, but not equal marriage. The LGBT community rejected the proposal because it would not provide the possibility for the spouses to share social security benefits or pensions, or other legal benefits of marriage.[4] In response to legislative inaction, a collective injunction was filed in July 2014 with the aim of having the Civil Code declared "unconstitutional."[5] The collective injunction #3937-2014 was approved 13 November 2014 and declared Articles 134 and 135 of the state's Civil Code unconstitutional, requiring reparations to the couples and ordering the State Congress to legislate for equal marriage.[6] In early February, 2015, the judge Cuenca Zamora ruled that the state of Chihuahua had an obligation to abide by the findings of the injunction. His legal opinion was forwarded to the Parliamentary Coordination Board to begin the legislative processes to implement change in the Civil Code.[7]
On 11 June 2015, the state governor announced the state would no longer prevent same sex marriage, making Chihuahua the fourth jurisdiction to have legal same-sex marriage without having to result to individual injunction.[8] Governor César Duarte Jáquez announced that licenses would be available as of 12 June 2015.[9] After the SCJN issued its directive that courts must approve injunctions for same sex marriage based on the federal constitution protections that rights must be equally provided without distinction to all people, the PAN deputy María Eugenia Campos Galván, presented an initiative for the Chihuahuan Congress to limit marriage to one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation. Her proposal was supported by the PAN block of legislators.[10]
Amparos
On 30 April 2013, a male same-sex couple asked the Civil Registrar of Chihuahua to marry. The Civil Registrar rejected it because the State Constitution defined marriage as the union of a man and a woman. On 7 May 2013, the couple appealed the decision of the Civil Registar and on 19 August, judge, José Juan Múzquiz Gómez, of the Tenth District Court of the Chihuahua State recognized that they had the right to marry. The Civil Registar had up to 3 September to appeal the decision.[11] The government of the state did not appeal the decision and allowed the deadline to pass, thereby allowing the couple to marry.[12] On 31 October 2013, the second couple in the state and first lesbian couple was awarded an injunction 389/2013 in the 7th District Court.[13] In February 2014, they married and were the first gay marriage in the city of Juárez.[14] On 22 November 2013 the eighth District Judge Ignacio Cuenca Zamora, granted the third injunction to a lesbian couple.[15] In December 2013, the fourth couple in Chihuahua were granted an injunction. They were first male couple to marry in Juárez and solemnized their marriage on 13 February 2014.[16] In February 2014, the fifth individual injunction to marry in Chihuahua was granted to Hiram Gonzalez, president of the Center for Humanistic Grouping Related to Sexual Orientation Studies (CHEROS).[17]
On 19 March 2014 seven lesbian couples applied for marriage at the 5th Civil Registry, were rejected, and applied for an injunction.[18] On 30 June 2014 twenty-six additional couples filed a collective complaint.[19] In July 2014, a same-sex couple were granted the right to marry via injunction, but the judge gave no instructions for reform to the Congress, Civil Registry or the Governor of the State. Unsatisfied with the scope of the judgment, an appeal was launched on 16 July 2014. On 17 October 2014 the case was elevated to the Supreme Court and was the first hearing of an equality case from Chihuahua presented to the high court.[20] On 22 April 2015, the SCJN agreed to hear a case to determine if couples who filed injunctions were entitled to reparations from the State.[21] In mid-August 2014, the 6th same-sex marriage was held in Chihuahua.[22] On 20 August 2014 the seventh same-sex marriage occurred in the state—four marriages in Ciudad Juárez and three in the Chihuahua City in 2014.[23] However, as of July 2014, 33 amparos had been filed in the state, 22 in the capital and 11 in Ciudad Juárez, and only nine had been approved.[24] On 13 December 2014, a mass wedding for four lesbian couples who had obtained injunctions was held in Cuidad Juárez,[25] which brought the total of same-sex weddings in the state to 14 for 2014.[26] In February 2015, it was announced that 25 amparos had been successful in the state, but no legislative action had resolved the unconstitutional articles of the Civil Code.[27] In the wake of an expected ruling by the SCJN ordering the legislature to change the law, the governor announced impediments to same-sex marriage would cease on 12 June 2015.[28][29]
See also
References
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Segunda pareja gay gana amparo para boda en Ciudad Juárez
- ↑ Gays de Chihuahua buscarán legalizar Matrimonio Igualitario vía amparo colectivo
- ↑ Gays de Chihuahua buscarán legalizar el Matrimonio Igualitario vía amparo colectivo
- ↑ Gana comunidad gay amparo a favor de matrimonio igualitario
- ↑ Juez del Estado mexicano de Chihuahua ordena legalizar el matrimonio igualitario
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Otorgan segundo amparo a pareja gay en Chihuahua
- ↑ Se casa la primera pareja del mismo sexo en Cd. Juárez - Estados
- ↑ Matrimonio gay avanza en Chihuahua
- ↑ First same-sex marriage takes place in Juárez
- ↑ Ganan amparo para casarse cinco parejas del mismo sexo
- ↑ Mas personas del mismo sexo buscan casarse en Juárez
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Decidirá la Suprema Corte sobre la norma que prohíbe matrimonios gays
- ↑ Ya son 6 matrimonios gays en Chihuahua; todos gracias a un amparo
- ↑ Se consuma la séptima boda gay en Chihuahua
- ↑ Amparos para matrimonios gay costaron 30 mil pesos
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Celebran primera boda gay colectiva bajo amparo
- ↑ Mexico's Quiet Marriage Equality Revolution
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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