Same-sex marriage in San Luis Potosí
Same-sex marriage in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosí has been legal since 21 May 2019. The state Congress approved a bill to legalize same-sex marriage on 16 May 2019. It was signed into law by the Governor on 17 May and published in the official journal on 20 May. The law took effect the following day.
History
Legislative action
On 28 April 2014, a citizens' initiative to legalize same-sex marriage was submitted to the Congress of San Luis Potosí. On 8 August 2014, the Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Human Rights and Gender Equity, Miguel Maza Hernández, said that analysis of the proposal would begin. On 17 June 2015, Hernández announced the state's commitment to extending marriage to same-sex couples and stated that deliberations would happen after the June 2015 Supreme Court ruling declaring all laws against same-sex marriage unconstitutional is published in the judicial gazette. Hernández added that although no laws preventing same-sex couples from adopting exist, Congress would prefer to amend the Family Code to codify equal adoption rights along with adding a new marriage law.On 6 June 2016, it was announced that a special committee would study the marriage bill and vote on it within 90 days. In November 2016, the State Congress voted against the bill legalizing same-sex marriage. One PRD deputy, who mistakenly voted against the bill, announced that he would introduce a new same-sex marriage proposal in 2017.
The new bill was introduced in October 2017. After the July 2018 elections resulted in the National Regeneration Movement winning a plurality of legislative seats in San Luis Potosí, the bill to legalize same-sex marriage was approved by Congress on 16 May 2019, in a vote of 14-12, with 1 abstention. It was subsequently signed by Governor Juan Manuel Carreras on 17 May and published in the official journal on 20 May. The law took effect the following day. It allows same-sex couples to adopt children jointly.
| Political party | Members | Yes | No | Abstain |
| National Regeneration Movement | 6 | 6 | ||
| National Action Party | 6 | 6 | ||
| Institutional Revolutionary Party | 5 | 1 | 4 | |
| Labor Party | 2 | 2 | ||
| Party of the Democratic Revolution | 2 | 2 | ||
| Ecologist Green Party of Mexico | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| New Alliance Party | 1 | 1 | ||
| Citizens' Movement | 1 | 1 | ||
| Social Encounter Party | 1 | 1 | ||
| Concicenia Popular | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 27 | 14 | 12 | 1 |
Injunctions
Despite same-sex marriage not being legal at the time, multiple same-sex couples were able to legally marry in San Luis Potosí through a process known in Spanish as recurso de amparo.In July 2013, a male same-sex couple applied via amparo for the right to marry. On 30 May 2014, the First District Court found that Article 15 of the Family Code of San Luis Potosí was discriminatory and on 3 June 2014 granted the couple an injunction to marry. Similarly, on 26 March 2014, a male couple went to the registrar in San Luis Potosí City, were refused a marriage license, and applied for an injunction, which was approved on 4 August 2014 by the Sixth District Court. On 7 August 2014, the Civil Registry filed a counter-injunction to avoid recording the marriage. In October 2014, an appeal was denied by the second Appellate Court of the Ninth Circuit and the registry was ordered to conduct the marriage.
In November 2014, the State Human Rights Commission of San Luis Potosí announced that it was reviewing two complaints from parties who had received injunctions to marry but were being denied marriage certificates by the Civil Registry.
In early September 2014, a lesbian couple applied for the first same-sex marriage license in Ciudad Valles, and an amparo involving 20 couples was granted in June 2016.
In November 2016, a 3-judge federal appeals court declared Article 15 of the Family Code of San Luis Potosí unconstitutional for defining marriage as only between one man and one woman.
By January 2017, 20 amparos had been granted to same-sex couples throughout the state. In April 2017, another amparo was granted by a court. Another amparo was granted by the First District Court in late December 2017.
Public opinion
A 2017 opinion poll conducted by Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica found that 50% of San Luis Potosí residents supported same-sex marriage. 46% were opposed.According to a 2018 survey by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía, 39% of the San Luis Potosí public opposed same-sex marriage.