Gay and lesbian couples on Wednesday began applying for marriage licenses after a law legalizing such unions took effect in the Mexican state of Coahuila.

Coahuila, which is bordered by Texas to its north, is the first Mexican state to legislatively allow gay couples to marry.

On Monday, September 1, an overwhelming majority of lawmakers approved changes to the state's civil code, giving gay and straight couples equal marital rights, including adoption.

The changes, proposed by Leftist Congressman Samuel Acevedo, alter the civil code's definition of marriage from a “union between a man and a woman for the purpose of procreation” to “a union between two people with the possibility of procreation or adoption.”

Raul Vera Lopez, the Roman Catholic bishop of Saltillo, and Luis Fernando Rodriguez Trejo, president of the Mission Mexico-Saltillo of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, expressed their opposition to the law.

Coahuila previously recognized gay couples with civil unions.

Gay couples can also marry in Mexico City, where lawmakers approved a marriage law in 2009. Mexico City is a federal district, not a state, much like the District of Columbia. Such unions have also taken place in Quintana Roo, where the state's civil code is gender neutral.