Talk:Same-sex marriage in Baja California

Latest comment: 6 years ago by Mathglot in topic Legal, vs law not enforced

Legal, vs law not enforced edit

The lead sentence currently says that same-sex marriage is now legal in Baja. But since the law prohibiting it is still on the books, I changed it to say that same-sex marriage was a reality in Baja, but this was reverted.

What has changed, is that they are not enforcing the law, and registrars are issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and they are being married. If there were some sort of overnight political change in Baja and they decided to enforce the law tomorrow, no more licenses could be issued. There have also been calls by rights groups to have the law changed in Baja, precisely to bring the law into alignment with current practice and make that scenario impossible. But if the law prohibiting it is still on the books, in my view, stating that same-sex marriage is "legal" in Baja is not accurate. Mathglot (talk) 20:18, 6 November 2017 (UTC)Reply

  • It is Legal. The law in question has been overturned by the Mexican supreme court. Therefore the position is that same-sex marriage is legal, but unrecognised by the local authorities. Any marriage licenses issued for same-sex couples in the region are fully valid and within the law also. The hypothetical scenario you present is unlikely given the current constitutional situation. Note that any change to this status quo would require federal intervention as the matter has already escalated above the authority of the local legislature and enforcement bodies (who are yet to recognise the issue, but have been overruled). You correctly say that the laws banning it still exist, however the ruling of the supreme court makes the actual laws themselves illegal, and by extension they cannot be enforced. For your convenience, there are reliable sources in English explaining much of this, see: [1] [2] [3]. (responding from WT:LAW) Dysklyver 20:40, 6 November 2017 (UTC)Reply
Thanks, Dysklyver, for clarifying this. Mathglot (talk) 00:08, 7 November 2017 (UTC)Reply