The Mexican Supreme Court ruled today that excluding same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutionally discriminatory. This follows a 2010 pro-SSM ruling that applied only to Mexico City. It’s unclear how broadly this new ruling will apply beyond the Mexican state of Oaxaca, but the news story suggests that individual suits brought in other states will gradually bring same-sex marriage to those jurisdictions.
In Uruguay, the lower house in the national assembly appears poised to approve a bill on Monday that would define marriage as “the union of two parties, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation thereof at the same terms with the same effects established in the Civil Code.”
Same-sex marriage licenses will begin to issue at midnight tonight in Washington State. Marriage ceremonies will start on Sunday after the state’s obligatory three-day waiting period, which for many gay couples will follow a years-long waiting period.
SSM is now legal in Argentina, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, South Africa, Spain, Sweden and Mexico (where same-sex marriages for now are allowed only in Mexico City but are recognized nationwide). It’s also legal in nine U.S. states – Connecticut, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont and Washington — and in Washington, D.C.