Mexico's Supreme Court has declared as discriminatory and unconstitutional state-level laws that define marriage only as the union of a man and a woman. The decision, in effect, legalises same-sex marriages in all 31 of the country's states.
The court's decision, published on 19 June in the Judicial Weekly journal, said "procreation" was not a purpose for marriage and therefore limiting marriages to heterosexual couples amounted to discrimination against other couples seeking marriage.
Current civil codes remain intact for the time being, but same-sex couples wishing to marry are able to obtain injunctions against the laws limiting marriages to heterosexuals.
The Mexican bishops' conference expressed disappointment with the court's decree and said it disagreed with its reasoning.
The bishops reiterated their conviction that the family, founded on the marriage of a man and a woman with "reproductive ability" guarantees "the survival of society".
Their conviction "does not correspond with the Supreme Court creating new forms of marriage, because it would no longer be a marriage, rather another type of union," their 18 June statement continued.
In its published ruling, the court said, "Since the purpose of marriage is not procreation, there is not a justified reason that the matrimonial union be heterosexual, nor that it is stated as 'between a man and a woman.' Such a statement proves discriminatory, based on the sexual orientation of the person."
Mexico City approved same-sex marriage in 2009, making it the first jurisdiction in Latin America to do so. The Supreme Court upheld the law in 2010 and ordered all other states to honour matrimonies performed in the capital.
Mexico separates marriages into civil and religious categories – with civil marriages only being performed by state personnel, not priests.
The northern state of Coahuila is the only other state to approve same-sex marriages, although such unions also occur in the south-eastern state of Quintana Roo, where the civil code omits any reference to the gender of the participants.
Since 2010, lawyers working for same-sex couples wishing to marry have successfully sought individual injunctions against laws not allowing same-sex marriages, though the process can be convoluted and costly.
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