Same-sex marriage in Mexico City
Same-sex marriage is legal in Mexico City, having been approved by its Legislative Assembly on 21 December 2009, and signed into law by Head of Government Marcelo Ebrard on 29 December 2009. The law became effective on 4 March 2010.
Civil unions, known as sociedades de convivencia which offer some of the rights of marriage, have been legal in the city since March 2007.
Civil unions
Being the seat of the Powers of the Union, Mexico City did not belong to any particular state but to all. After years of demanding greater political autonomy, residents were given the right to directly elect the Head of Government of the Federal District and the representatives of the unicameral Legislative Assembly by popular vote in 1997. Ever since, the center-left Party of the Democratic Revolution has controlled both political powers.In the early 2000s, Enoé Uranga, an openly lesbian politician and activist, unsuccessfully pushed a bill that would have legalized same-sex civil unions in Mexico City under the name Ley de Sociedades de Convivencia. Despite being passed four times by legislative commissions, the bill repeatedly got stuck in plenary voting for its sensitive nature, which could be attributed to the widespread opposition from right-wing groups and then-Head of Government Andrés Manuel López Obrador's ambiguity concerning the bill. Nonetheless, as new left-wing Head of Government Marcelo Ebrard was expected to take power in December 2006, the ALDF decided to take up the bill and approved it in a 43–17 vote on 9 November 2006.
| Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
| Party of the Democratic Revolution | 34 | 33 | 1 | ||
| National Action Party | 17 | 16 | 1 | ||
| Institutional Revolutionary Party | 4 | 4 | |||
| New Alliance Party | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 3 | 3 | |||
| Social Democratic Party | 2 | 2 | |||
| Labor Party | 1 | 1 | |||
| Convergence | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 66 | 43 | 17 | 5 | 1 |
The law was well received by feminist and LGBT groups, including Emilio Álvarez Icaza, then-chairman of the Federal District's Human Rights Commission, who declared that "the law was not a threat to anyone in particular, and that it will be a matter of time before it shows positive consequences for different social groups." It was strongly opposed by right-wing groups such as the National Parents' Union and the Roman Catholic Church, which labeled the assemblymen who voted for the law as "sinners", and complained it was "vengeance against the Catholic Church from the more radical groups from the left, who felt it was a demand for justice."
The law officially took effect on 16 March 2007. Mexico City's first same-sex civil union was between Jorge Cerpa, a 31-year-old economist, and Antonio Medina, a 38-year-old journalist. By December 2009, 736 same-sex civil unions had taken place in the city since the law became effective, of which 24 had been annulled.
Same-sex marriage
On 24 November 2009, PRD Assemblyman :es:David Razú Aznar|David Razú proposed a bill that would legalize same-sex marriage in Mexico City. According to Razú, "gays and lesbians pay taxes like everyone else, obey the law like everyone else, build the city like everyone else, and there is no reason they should have a different and special set of rules." The bill essentially sought to modify the definition of marriage contained in the Civil Code, using gender-neutral language. Razú added that the bill was "to be in agreement with Article 1 of the Constitution, which says that no person can be discriminated against for any reason, and with Article 2 of the Civil Code, which says that no person can be deprived of the exercise of their rights for reasons of sexual orientation."Assemblyman Emiliano Aguilar was criticized for giving out homophobic pamphlets, which showed transgender prostitutes with the inscription "Lawmaker, would you like to see your children ending up like this? Do not promote homosexuality." Luis González Plascencia, chairman of the Humans Rights Commission of Mexico City, backed the bill and said that it was up to the ALDF to consider LGBT adoption.
The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, International Amnesty, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and over 600 non-governmental organizations supported the legalization of same-sex marriage in Mexico City. PAN announced it would either go to the courts to appeal the law or demand a referendum. However, a referendum on same-sex marriage was rejected by the Legislative Assembly in a 36–22 vote on 18 December 2009.
On 21 December 2009, the Legislative Assembly approved the legalization of same-sex marriage in a 39–20 vote. PRD Head of Government Marcelo Ebrard had been expected to sign the bill. The bill changed the definition of marriage in the city's Civil Code from "a free union between a man and a woman" to "a free union between two people." The law was written to allow same-sex couples to adopt children, apply for bank loans, inherit wealth and be included in the insurance policies of their spouse, among other rights they were previously denied under civil unions in the city. PAN vowed to challenge the law in the courts.
On 29 December 2009, Head of Government Marcelo Ebrard signed the bill into law and it became effective on March 4, 2010. On August 5, the Supreme Court voted 9–2 to uphold the constitutionality of Mexico City's same-sex marriage law. On August 10, 2010, the Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages performed in Mexico City must be recognized throughout the country.
| Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain | Absent |
| Party of the Democratic Revolution | 34 | 34 | |||
| National Action Party | 15 | 15 | |||
| Institutional Revolutionary Party | 8 | 2 | 5 | 1 | |
| Labor Party | 5 | 5 | |||
| Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 3 | 3 | |||
| New Alliance Party | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 66 | 39 | 20 | 5 | 2 |
On 11 December 2016, the Constituent Assembly of Mexico City, a body formed to create a constitution for Mexico City, voted 9–7 to include same-sex marriage in the draft text. In early January 2017, the Constituent Assembly voted, in its plenary session, 68-11 to fully enshrine same-sex marriage in the Mexico City Constitution. Article 11 reads: "Equal rights are recognized for families formed by same-sex couples, with or without daughters and sons, who are under the figure of civil marriage, concubinage or some other civil union."
Marriage statistics
From March to July 2010, more than 270 same-sex couples had wed in Mexico City.The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Mexico City since legalization in 2010, as reported by the National Institute of Statistics and Geography.
As of August 2014, 4,353 same-sex couples had married in Mexico City. About 6,000 same-sex marriages were celebrated in Mexico City in the first five years following the law's enactment. Of these, 30% were between couples from other states and only 2% had ended in divorce.
Public opinion
An opinion poll conducted in September 2009 showed that the population of Mexico City was almost evenly divided on the issue of same-sex marriage, with 48% in favour and 46% against.From 27 November to 30 November 2009, major newspaper El Universal polled 1,000 Mexico City citizens concerning the legalization of same-sex marriage in the city. 50% supported it, 38% were against it and 12% had no opinion. The same poll showed that support was stronger among the youngest population, 67%, and weaker among the oldest, 38%. With 48%, the most cited reason was "right of choice" for the supporters, followed by "everybody is equal" with 14%. 39% of the opposers cited "it is not normal" as the main reason to not support same-sex marriage, followed by "we lose values" with 18%.
A 2017 opinion poll conducted by Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica found that 63% of Mexico City residents supported same-sex marriage. 32% were opposed.
According to a 2018 survey by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, 29% of the Mexico City public opposed same-sex marriage, the lowest in all of Mexico.