The Mexican Supreme Court overturned an Oaxaca state law prohibiting same-sex marriage. The ruling may have a wide-ranging influence, leading to the legalization of gay marriage in Mexico.
The unanimous ruling is aligned with Mexico City, where gay marriage has been legal since 2010.
Some are citing this week’s decision as evidence that Mexico is paving the way for gay marriages to be recognized not only throughout the nation, but other Latin American countries as well.
Regardless, legalized gay marriage won’t happen overnight in Mexico. There are still many hurdles to jump. Via the Associated Press:
Under Mexican law, two more cases from Oaxaca must be decided in the same way before a precedent is established allowing gay marriage — and only in that state. For each of Mexico's 30 other states, five separate cases would have to be decided that way to establish precedent for gay marriage.
The court said its decision applies only in the case of the three couples in Oaxaca but it indicted that its effects might be expanded throughout Mexico, although not in the short term because each of Mexico's states and the capital district has its own, individual civil code.
