Jalisco state legislators Mara Robles Villaseñor and Enrique Velázquez González of the Hagamos party are reviving the stalled initiative to make same-sex marriage officially legal in the state.
Although registry offices in Jalisco are obliged to grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, following rulings by Mexico’s Supreme Court, their legality has never been enshrined in local law.
Velázquez González said this anomaly needs to be corrected, in addition to another measure also in the “freezer”: the prohibition of gay reconversion therapies.
The legislator said he has many testimonies from people who have undergone such therapies suggesting they are little more than “centers of torture.”
The legislative body can expect serious blowback from the Catholic Church and religious organizations should legislators decide to follow up the proposed legislation. Church leaders have said they will fight tooth and nail to prevent same-sex marriage becoming a constitutional right in Jalisco.