The State of Mexico on Tuesday voted 50 to 16 to legalize same-sex marriage
It was the 29th of Mexico’s 32 states to vote for marriage equality, following earlier high-court rulings that ordered lawmakers to accommodate gay and lesbian couples. Only Tamaulipas, Tabasco, and Guerrero still ban same-sex marriage.
“Equal marriage is a public institution, whereby two people freely decide to share a life,” reads a tweet from the State of Mexico’s congress.
“Each legislature has its history and today we are part of that history,” said lawmaker Juana Bonilla Jaime, who credited the work of LGBTQ+ activists in getting the bill to the legislature.
The State of Mexico, which borders Mexico City, is the country’s most populous state with close to 17 million people. Reuters reports that it is also one of Mexico’s worst states for gender-based violence.
Sonora and Sinaloa most recently approved gay marriage, as did Yucatán after several misfires among lawmakers.
Mexico City was first to legalize same-sex marriage in 2009, and the following year Argentina became the first country in Latin America to legalize it nationally.
