Same-sex marriage in Michoacán

Same-sex marriage is legal in the Mexican state of Michoacán since 23 June 2016. On 18 May 2016, the state Congress approved a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in the state by a vote of 27 in favour, none opposed and 8 abstentions. Previously, Congress had refused to amend sections 123 and 125 of the Civil Code following a ruling by a state judge requiring the Legislature to do so.

On 13 November 2006, it was announced that civil unions bills for Michoacán, would be formally proposed. However, as of August 2009, the bills stalled, meaning they were not discussed by the local Congress. After marriage was passed in the Federal District, the PRD announced it would propose bills for same-sex marriage and adoption, along with same-sex civil unions (Law for Coexistence Partnerships) in 2010. A bill was submitted in March 2010 by the Grupo de Facto Diversidad Sexual, which proposed both marriage and cohabitation, but did not mention same-sex adoption. As with the previous proposals, it stalled.

On 27 August 2015, the Justice and Human Rights Committee approved a new text of the Family Code that would maintain the heterosexual definition of marriage but enact a domestic partnership law for same-sex couples. It was approved unanimously by the full Michoacán Congress on 7 September 2015. The law was published on 30 September 2015 in the state's official journal. Following the Family Code's passage, a lawsuit claiming discrimination and unconstitutionality was filed before the Mexican Supreme Court in October.

Since 23 June 2016, a domestic partnership is defined as the legal union between two individuals. Such unions are therefore open to both opposite-sex and same-sex couples (they were previously open to same-sex couples only).

After 4 years of legal processes, on 5 March 2014, a federal court ruled that a lesbian couple could marry. It was the first case in Mexico which was not elevated to the Supreme Court. The couple married on 12 March 2014. On 6 May 2014, it was announced that a second lesbian couple had obtained an injunction and seven more cases were pending. They married on 16 May 2014 and subsequently on 15 August 2014 filed the registration of their twin children's birth, which had also been approved by an injunction. It was the first registration in the state of a child born to a same-sex couple. Gerardo Herrera Pérez, leader of Grupo Facto de Diversidad Sexual en Michoacán, announced that they had collected 100 signatures for a collective amparo in Michoacán in September 2014 and the initiation of the first same-sex adoption in the state by a couple who are from Michoacán, but were married in Mexico City.

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