News (World)

Mexico City holds mass wedding & gender marker change ceremony to celebrate Pride

131 transgender people completed the process of changing their gender markers on government documents and 120 couples were married in a single day.
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Supreme Court victory, celebration, reacts
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Mexico City authorities celebrated Pride last weekend with a novel approach. Instead of promising to enact legislation they knew would never pass, officials provided real help to LGBTQ+ people.

In 2009, the metropolis was the first jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage in Latin America – and six years before the Supreme Court decision that legalized it in the United States. Government support for marriage equality hasn’t dipped, and to celebrate Pride, officials held a mass wedding. They also held an event to help people change their gender markers on government documents.

Related:

The Trevor Project is expanding internationally with 24/7 services in Mexico for LGBTQ youth

The suicide and crisis prevention organization hopes to continue expanding around the world to help as many LGBTQ youths as possible.

One hundred twenty couples were married under the slogan “Hand in hand, we march with pride.”

“This is a very important document, more than a piece of paper or a symbol of marriage. It is security that I can give to my family,” Edgar Mendoza said after marrying his partner of ten years.

“I didn’t think it would happen like this,” Keila Espinoza added after marrying her partner. “It’s very exciting.”

Another 131 transgender people completed the process of changing their gender markers on government documents like their birth certificates and national ID cards during a second event.

On May 17th, in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia, the Foreign Ministry held an event to celebrate a new inclusive policy. It issued its first nonbinary passport to magistrate and activist Ociel Baena.

Nonbinary Mexicans now have the option to select “X” as their gender marker rather than male or female. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard called the move “a great leap for the freedom and dignity of people.”

Mexico continues to advance LGBTQ+ rights. In February 2022, Guanajuato issued the country’s first birth certificate with nonbinary gender identification.

Also last year, the country achieved full marriage equality after all 32 states officially approved it at the state level.

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