Following a federal ruling last month,
married gay and lesbian couples in Mexico can access benefits
administered by the Mexican Social Security Institute (Instituto
Mexicano del Seguro Social, IMSS.)
In a landmark ruling handed down on
January 29, the Second Chamber of the Mexican Supreme Court found it
“discriminatory” for the agency to exclude gay couples from
accessing health and pension benefits.
Plaintiffs in the case were two men who
married in Mexico City in 2012 but lived in Puebla, which does not
recognize marriage equality. The pair were denied enrollment in the
program and one of the men died in the fall of the same year.
Jose Alberto Gomez Barroso filed a
sexual discrimination complaint against the IMSS on behalf of his
deceased husband.
This
week, IMSS officials in Oaxaca announced that they are ready to
process applications from gay couples who are married, despite the
fact that such couples cannot legally marry in the state.