Same-sex marriage in Sonora

Same-sex marriage is currently not legal in the Mexican state of Sonora. On 11 May 2016, the Director of the Civil Registry of Sonora announced that same-sex couples could begin marrying in the state without the need for an amparo (ie: court order). However, on 18 May 2016, the Governor ordered all civil registries in the state to stop marrying same-sex couples.

History

Same-sex unions performed in Mexican states

  Same-sex marriages performed.*
Stripes: Proportion of municipal coverage.

  Civil unions performed; marriage by amparo only.

  Marriage not performed (except by amparo) despite Supreme Court order.

  Marriage accessible by amparo or by traveling out of state.

*Legislation is not equal in all states. See details.

Injunctions

An important recognition case was filed in 2013. A male same-sex couple, who had married in Mexico City in July 2012, returned to Sonora and attempted to enroll as a couple in the Social Security program, the Institute for Social Security and Services for State Workers of Sonora. They were denied admittance on 8 October 2012 and filed for an amparo (injunction) with a court in Culiacán, Sinaloa. On 9 October 2013, the court granted the injunction holding that the human right to form a family without discrimination had been violated.[1]

In early May 2014, a female couple from the municipality of San Luis Río Colorado were denied a marriage license by the Civil Registry. On 26 May 2014, they filed an injunction in the Fifth District Court of the Fifteenth Circuit in Mexicali, Baja California.[2] A hearing was held on 17 September 2014.[3][4][5] The couple received a favorable ruling on 22 October 2014.[6][7][8] Their wedding was scheduled to take place at the Civil Registry of Luis B. Sanchez on 13 February 2015,[9] but was held in a private home with the consent and participation of registry officials.[10]

A second lesbian couple applied for a marriage license on 11 August 2014. They were rejected and subsequently filed an injunction.[11] The injunction was granted in February 2015.[12]

On 1 May 2015, six couples filed injunctions after being denied marriage licenses from the Civil Registry in Hermosillo.[13]

By 1 September 2016, 26 same-sex couples (20 of whom were lesbian couples and the remaining 6 were gay male couples) had sought injunctions to marry in Sonora. All of them had been granted by the courts.[14]

Legislative action

An initiative to allow same-sex couples to marry was delivered to the state's Congress by former Labor Party candidate for governor, Miguel Angel Haro Moren, in January 2010.[15] The proposal was rejected in February 2010 and the state filed a constitutional challenge against imposing laws of the Civil Code of the Federal District, concerning same-sex marriage, upon Sonora.[16]

In September 2017, all political parties in the state agreed to begin analyzing a proposed same-sex marriage bill. The bill's main sponsor said he was hopeful it would be accepted.[17]

Decision of the Director of the Civil Registry

On 11 May 2016, the Director of the Civil Registry of the State of Sonora, Martha Julissa Bojórquez Castillo, announced that same-sex couples could begin marrying in the state without the need for an amparo (i.e. court order). More than 12 court orders had been granted to same-sex couples in Sonora prior to the decision, more than the 5 necessary to make the state's offending provisions in the Civil Code null and inoperable.[18]

Almost immediately after the aforementioned decision, the civil registrar of the municipality of Navojoa announced that same-sex couples would still have to be granted an injunction to be able to marry in the municipality. He argued that because the Congress of Sonora had not yet changed the law, an amparo was still necessary.[19]

Following Bojórquez Castillo's decision, members of Congress from across the political spectrum announced their support for amending the Family Code to define marriage as being between two people,[20] including deputies from the National Action Party, the Institutional Revolutionary Party and the Party of the Democratic Revolution.

On 18 May 2016, Governor Claudia Pavlovich Arellano ordered all civil registries in the state to stop marrying same-sex couples. She argued that the Civil Code of Sonora prohibits same-sex marriages and that the state would continue to follow those laws (even though the articles in the Civil Code that are denying marriage rights to same-sex couples have already been declared inoperable and unconstitutional). She added that civil registries may still marry same-sex couples only if they are granted an injunction beforehand.[21]

Marriage statistics

While same-sex marriage is currently not legal in Sonora, marriages have been allowed to proceed in individual cases, via injunctions.

On 5 April 2017, two women married in the city of Nogales, making them the first same-sex couple to marry in the city.[22][23] A second same-sex marriage occurred in Nogales in late April 2017.[24] The first same-sex marriage in Guaymas was held on 8 April.[25]

By June 2017, 23 same-sex marriages had been performed in the state. Of these, 15 took place in Hermosillo and the remainder occurred in Nogales, Guaymas, San Luis Río Colorado and Puerto Peñasco.[26] 32 same-sex couples married in the state from May 2015 to November 2017.[27]

Public opinion

A 2017 opinion poll conducted by Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica found that 50% of Sonora residents supported same-sex marriage. 46% were opposed.[28]

According to a 2018 survey by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística y Geografía (INEGI), 31% of the Sonora public opposed same-sex marriage, the third lowest in all of Mexico behind Baja California (31%) and Mexico City (29%)[29]

See also

• Same-sex marriage in Mexico
• LGBT rights in Mexico

References

1. "Sonora Ciudadana - Post". sonoraciudadana.org.mx.
2. Saul D.Martinez (31 July 2014). "A un paso de ser realidad, primer boda gay en SLRC". LaCronica.com.
3. "Avanza amparo para boda civil". oem.com.mx.
4. Gina RodrÃguez (9 September 2014). "Otra pareja homosexual interesada en matrimonio en SLRC". LaCronica.com.
5. "Esperan resolución de matrimonio gay". San Luis Digital.
6. "Autorizan boda gay en SL". oem.com.mx.
7. Saul D.Martinez (23 October 2014). "Logran sentencia para "matrimonio gay"". LaCronica.com.
8. Juez da “luz verde” a primer boda gay
9. "El 13 celebrarán la primera boda homosexual". oem.com.mx.
10. "First same-sex marriage in Mexican state of Sonora performed today". San Diego Gay and Lesbian News.
11. Surge nuevo caso de matrimonio “gay”
12. Acuña, Diana (27 February 2015). "Aprueban segunda boda gay en SLRC". El Imparcial. Archived from the original on 27 February 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
13. Impulsan seis parejas gay en Hermosillo amparos federales para casarse por el civil
14. "Un total de 26 parejas gay han solicitado amparos para casarse en Sonora". EXPRESO (in Spanish). 1 September 2016.
15. Ulises Gutiérrez (13 January 2010). "Proponen matrimonio homosexual en Sonora". La Jornada (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 January 2010.
16. "El Universal - - Sonora tambin rechaza matrimonios gay". eluniversal.com.mx. 20 July 2013.
17. (in Spanish) Festeja PRD que se analice el matrimonio igualitario
18. "Da Registro Civil apertura a matrimonios entre personas del mismo sexo". UniObregon. 11 May 2016.
19. "Navojoa, sin solicitud de matrimonio igualitario". Tribuna del Yaqui. 12 May 2016.
20. "Proyectan diputados reformar Código de Familia". CRÍTICA. 13 May 2016.
21. "Reitera Estado, parejas gay sí requieren de amparo para casarse". UniradioInforma.com. 18 May 2016.
22. First same-sex marriage celebrated in Nogales, Sonora last week
23. (in Spanish) Registran el primer matrimonio homosexuel en Nogales
24. (in Spanish) Celebran en Sonora segundo matrimonio igualitario
25. (in Spanish) CELEBRAN EN GUAYMAS EL PRIMER MATRIMONIO IGUALITARIO
26. Open thread 6/14 Equality on Trial
27. (in Spanish) Comunidad lésbico-gay de Sonora pide legalizar matrimonio igualitario
28. (in Spanish) Encuesta nacional 2017, Gabinete de Comunicación Estratégica
29. "¿Quién está en contra del matrimonio gay?". El Sol de México (in Spanish). 15 April 2019.