LGBTQ+ Rights Victory in Mexico

Legislators in the northeastern Mexican state of Yucatan have enacted marriage equality for same-sex couples and also cracked down on "conversion therapy."

Yucatan lawmakers voted 20-5 Wednesday to extend marriage rights, reports the Washington Blade. The state previously termed marriage a union between a man and a woman, but now the institution is defined as a "free and voluntary legal union of two people with equal rights, duties and obligations."

The vote this week followed two previous unsuccessful attempts to pass marriage equality in the Yucatan. Lawmakers in the state also agreed to prison sentences for anyone administering so-called conversion therapy, including to adults.

Yucatan's actions follow a steady drumbeat of LGBTQ+ advances in Mexico. Currently, 22 out of 32 Mexican states allow same-sex marriage, including areas popular with American tourists like Sinaloa, Mexico City, Baja California, and Quintana Roo. The nation passed antidiscrimination protections for gay and bisexual Mexicans back in 2003.