The Jalisco legislature is not obliged to change the state Civil Code in the aftermath of a Mexican Supreme Court ruling that deems state laws that discriminate against same-sex marriage to be “unconstitutional.”
Hector Pizano, president of the Justice Commission of the Jalisco Congress, said the recent ruling only affects decisions taken by district courts hearing appeals from couples who have been refused the right to marry. In these cases judges are now obliged to rule in favor of same-sex couples, and local registrars would be breaking the law if they failed to subsequently issue marriage licenses.
Pizano said the Supreme Court ruling does not mean the Jalisco Congress is duty-bound to change its Civil Code, which currently determines marriage only to be between a man and a woman. However, were the Supreme Court judges to extend their ruling and make the Jalisco Civil Code unlawful, he said steps would have to be taken to amend the local laws.
Pizano’s comments came a day before LGBT activists staged a vigil outside the Congress building in downtown Guadalajara to demand legislators act to change the state laws.
At present there appears to be no consensus in the State Congress to change the Civil Code and many legislators do not believe the issue is worth pursuing. Any future decision would therefore be passed on to the incoming 61st state legislature.
In a survey conducted by Guadalajara daily El Informador, 40 percent of those polled said Congress should chance the law to permit same-sex marriages, 38 percent disapproved of the Supreme Court’s stance, while 14 percent said they weren’t interested and seven percent said “alternatives” should be found.
Homophobe cardinal
Meanwhile, a group of civil organizations have filed a complaint with the Jalisco Human Rights Commission against Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iñiguez, the former archbishop of Guadalajara, for inciting hatred against the gay community in his declarations. According to a representative for the groups,
Sandoval “violated our human rights, honor and dignity and publicly promoted phobias against diversity, which in our state is a crime.” The groups have also presented a complaint with the National Council for the Prevention of Discrimination (Conapred) for Sandoval’s statements condemning the Supreme Court’s recent ruling.