Mexico's highest court has struck down
state bans on gay marriage as unconstitutional for a fifth time.
A state law which considers the
ultimate purpose of marriage to be “procreation, and or defines
[marriage] as celebrated between a man and a woman, is
unconstitutional,” Mexico's Supreme Court ruled.
The ruling, delivered June 3 but made
public this week, came in a case challenging Colima's ban, the AP
reported.
The ruling is considered a game changer
for the movement in Mexico. Under Mexican law, five rulings create a
“generic jurisprudence” binding on lower court judges.
That doesn't mean nationwide marriage
equality, however.
“[F]ederal judges must rule five
times in each state to create precedent that would lead to full
nullification of a local marriage code,” BuzzFeed
News reported.
On Friday, the Washington
Blade reported that Cesar Duarte Jaquez, the governor of the
Mexican state of Chihuahua, announced that effective immediately his
administration would no longer prevent same-sex couples from
marrying.
Chihuahua, a conservative state that
borders Texas and New Mexico, is the third state behind Coahuila and
Quintana Roo where gay couples can marry in Mexico. The federal
district of Mexico City, where nearly 9 million Mexicans reside, has
had marriage equality since 2009.