Background On 18 March 2013, a male same-sex couple applied to marry in
Ensenada. Their application was denied on 21 March, and they filed an
amparo in court on 12 April 2014. On 31 October 2014, the Seventh District Court ordered city officials to perform the
marriage. Officials in Ensenada announced they would abide by the court decision and perform the marriage. On 17 June 2013, Víctor Fernando Urías Amparo and Víctor Manuel Aguirre Espinoza were denied the right to marry in
Mexicali and filed an
amparo. It was approved in October 2013, but was
appealed by the civil registrar to the Supreme Court. On 25 June 2014, the
Supreme Court ruled that the same-sex marriage ban violated the
Constitution of Mexico. "Excluding couples of the same sex goes against the right of persons to self-determination and for every individual's personality to develop freely.", the court ruled. The court granted the plaintiff couple the right to marry, but under
Mexico's legal system the court decision did not legalize
same-sex marriage statewide. On 31 October 2014, the civil registrar of Mexicali, Adriana Guadalupe Ramirez, notified the couple that the decision would not be appealed, the refusal was withdrawn, and the marriage could proceed. Though Ramirez scheduled the ceremony for 21 November 2014, when the couple appeared in the wedding hall to marry, the judge refused to perform the ceremony and the celebrants were evacuated after a
bomb threat was received. The civil registry claimed that discrepancies in documents had been rectified and announced a rescheduling of the wedding to 10 January 2015. On 10 January, the couple again returned to the registry for their marriage ceremony, which was declined for the fourth time, under a citizen's allegation that the couple suffered from "insanity". The citizen who made the allegation was an official who performed
premarital counseling required by the city and who had refused to give the couple the certificate that they had completed the counseling. In response to the ongoing controversy in Mexicali, officials in
Tijuana announced that they were willing to comply with any
injunction and marry same-sex couples if ordered by a court to do so. Lawyers for the couple filed
contempt of court proceedings against the mayor and registrar for failure to carry out the instructions of the Supreme Court. During a protest march organized by
LGBT activists, officials in Mexicali announced that they were dismissing the accusation of "insanity" and were ready to perform the marriage. On 17 January 2015, the couple became the first same-sex couple to marry in Baja California. On 6 August 2013, a lesbian couple, Reyna Isabel Soberanes Cuadras and Jacqueline Ramos Meza, were denied a
marriage license by the civil registrar in Mexicali, and filed an
amparo in court. They received notice that the
amparo had been granted on 30 December 2013. Three additional
amparos were filed in September 2014. One of the three couples married on 14 May 2016 after having received approval by a court. On 22 January 2015, Meritxell Calderón Vargas and Nancy Bonilla Luna applied to marry in Tijuana but were rejected citing the same reasons given to the other couples. The couple vowed to fight the denial in court. Their
amparo was granted, and the couple announced in December 2019 that their marriage ceremony would take place in March 2020. Ten people from Tijuana filed an
amparo for same-sex marriage rights in June 2015. It was granted by a court on 18 March 2016. On 22 December 2016, a judge granted an
amparo to another same-sex couple. On 14 January 2015, Raúl Ramírez Baena, director of the Citizens' Commission of Human Rights of the Northeast (CCDH,
Comisión Ciudadana de Derechos Humanos del Noroeste), filed a petition with Governor
Francisco Vega de Lamadrid and municipal officials, asking them to provide notification on how to proceed with same-sex marriages in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling. On 22 February 2017, the head of Baja California's adoption agency announced that same-sex couples have the right to
adopt in the state, in line with
jurisprudence established by the Supreme Court.
Legislative action Constitutional ban (2011) On 23 August 2010, shortly after the ruling of the Mexican Supreme Court requiring all states to recognize same-sex marriages validly performed in other states, state legislators proposed an amendment to article 7 of the Constitution of Baja California, adding the definition of marriage as being the "union between a man and a woman". On 29 September 2010, the
Congress of Baja California voted 18–1 in favor of the
constitutional amendment. After approval by at least 3 of the state's 5
municipalities, the reform was published on 27 May 2011, and went into force.
Same-sex marriage law (2021) A bill was introduced in the Congress of Baja California on 12 February 2015 to legalize same-sex marriage by amending article 7 of the State Constitution. Opponents were successful in delaying the measure for several years. On 16 July 2020, an amendment to repeal the same-sex marriage ban failed in Congress, with 15 legislators in favor, 3 opposed and 7 abstentions. While a majority of deputies voted to remove the ban, a two-thirds majority was required. The proposal was put to another vote later that same month. Again, it failed to meet the two-thirds threshold; 16 legislators voted in favor, 3 were opposed and 6 abstained, failing to meet the required 17 votes to modify the Constitution. On 16 June 2021, Congress approved a same-sex marriage bill introduced by Deputy Julia Andrea González. The legislation was passed 18–4, reaching the two-thirds threshold needed to amend the Constitution. The bill was supported by the
National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), the
Labor Party (PT), the
Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD) and the local Party of Baja California (PBC), as well as two
independent deputies. Ratification by a majority of the state's 6 municipalities within the next 30 days (i.e. by 17 July 2021) was needed for the constitutional amendment to take effect. If the municipalities did not act by that date, they were considered to having consented to the amendment (known as "constructive assent",
afirmativa ficta). At the end of the process, all 6 municipalities had ratified the constitutional change; 3 voted in favor of the amendment (
Mexicali,
Tecate, and
Tijuana), while the remaining 3 did not vote and as such were considered to having assented (
Ensenada,
Playas de Rosarito, and
San Quintín). The reform was published in the state's official journal on 8 August 2021, following promulgation by Governor
Jaime Bonilla Valdez. The legislation removed the same-sex marriage ban added to the Constitution of Baja California in 2011, and modified article 143 of the Civil Code to read: • in
Spanish: • (
Marriage is the free union of two people with the purpose of building a community of life, where both partners seek respect, equality and mutual aid. It must be solemnized by the officials of the Civil Registry and with the formalities stipulated in this Code.)
Government decree (2017) On 3 November 2017, the Secretary General of Government,
Francisco Rueda Gómez, issued a
decree announcing that the state would cease to enforce its ban on same-sex marriages. It instructed the state's civil registry to immediately begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples without requiring the couples to obtain an
amparo in court. In late December 2017, the State Commission of Human Rights urged state officials to comply with the decision and issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. Officials in Mexicali continued to refuse to issue licenses over the following two years, but they had begun issuing licenses by late December 2019. In early 2020, the civil registry instructed all civil registrars in the state to process marriage applications by same-sex couples in an identical manner to opposite-sex couples. ==Marriage statistics==