The upcoming weddings of six gay and lesbian couples near the tourist destination city of Cancun, Mexico have been suspended, La Reforma reported.

The weddings were expected to take place later this month after two gay couples said their lawyers successfully argued in front of judges that the Civil Code of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo does not specifically bar such marriages from taking place because the state's marriage application is gender neutral.

Quintana Roo Secretary of State Lois Gonzalez Flores has ordered a review of the legality of such marriages.

Patricia Novelo, the spokeswoman for the gay rights group Diversity Collective, announced that she married her partner in the state in November by exploiting the loophole and that a second gay couple had as well.

Novelo and gay travel groups said they were preparing to market the state as a destination for gay couples to marry. Spanish news agency EFE had earlier reported that travel agencies on average receive about 200 requests per month from gay tourists wishing to marry in the Mexican Caribbean.

The city-state of Mexico City legalized gay marriage in 2010 and remains the only municipality in Mexico where such marriages are officially allowed.