Gay Marriage Licenses Issued in Mexico City

Thursday, lesbian and gay couples by the dozens poured into a Mexico City government building to commence the legal process of marriage on the same day the first Latin American marriage equality law took effect.

The first same-sex marriages will legally be allowed within 7 to 10 days, the time period allowed to process the necessary paperwork.

The law was passed in December of last year by Mexico City’s legislature, becoming the country’s first law ending marriage discrimination. The law will also permit same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for bank loans together, inherit wealth, be included on insurance plans, and all the other alienable rights of heterosexual married couples.

According to an AP post:

“This is great, it is a feeling of relief, of celebration, everything,” said Daniel Ramos, 20, a medical student planning to marry his boyfriend, Temistocles Villanueva, on March 12. “For Latin America, this is not only a precedent, but an example to follow,” he added.

The new law only applies to residents of Mexico City, but unlike in the U.S., any legal marriage performed in Mexico must be recognized by all states, which has prompted the country’s conservatives to push for a constitutional amendment which would allow states without marriage equality to not recognize same-sex marriages.

Activist Jaime Cobian showed up Thursday with a sheaf of required documents — birth certificates, official IDs and residency documents — in a bid to get marriage licenses for 16 gay and lesbian couples in states where no such law exists.

The City’s new law is also being challenged in Mexico’s Supreme Court by the federal government but will remain in effect while the appeal is heard. The Roman Catholic Church has been a big player in trying to repeal the law, but David Razu, the Mexico City legislator who initially proposed the law, has confidence the Supreme Court will uphold marriage equality, stating:

“There is always a wave of reaction to these kinds of measures, but we are prepared to face it.”