Marriage equality is a reality in Zacatecas City, said Mayor Ulises Mejía Haro. Same-sex weddings began in City Hall on Valentine’s Day.
Twenty-seven couples married Thursday in a collective ceremony presided by Mayor Mejía Haro.
The liberalization of the marriage laws was necessary because Zacatecas City is “a progressive and inclusive municipality, promoter of human rights and in favor of non-discrimination,” he said.
The city of Zacatecas is the capital and largest city of the state by the same name in north-central Mexico.
Three years ago the municipality generated national controversy when a Civil Registry judge refused to marry Rodolfo Eduardo Flores Nava and Francisco Domínguez. The men had to resort to an amparo — a federal court appeal — before being allowed to marry 10 month later in June 2016. It was Zacatecas’ first gay marriage.
Fast-forward to Valentine’s Day 2019. The mayor is hosting a celebration of Collective Marriages of the Day of Love and Friendship while proclaiming, “equal marriages will be welcome.”
“They will be treated equally and in the city of Zacatecas we join this international movement, national and of course, here in the capital, to manage this progressive municipality, always safeguarding the rights of citizens, respecting the decisions of each of them,” he added.
The city is indeed progressive, electing the nation’s first openly gay mayor, Benjamin Medrano, in 2013. Mejía Haro was sworn in last year.
This decision was supported by the federal Rep. Monica Borrego Estrada, who emphasized the importance of guaranteeing rights for all people, especially for minorities.
The event was attended by the first same-sex couple to wed, Rodolfo Flores and Francisco Rodríguez, as well as various representatives of the LGBT+ community.
