The Mexican state of Guerrero celebrates its first equal weddings

2023-05-27 03:08:56

Dozens of couples celebrated this Friday, in the resort of Acapulco, Guerrero, south of Mexicofor the first time and for free equal weddings, after same-sex marriage was approved in the State last October. “We are celebrating the start of equal weddings in the state. Today we are pleased to announce that they will be the first formal, legal and equal marriages based on the decree approved by Congress”, commented the technical coordinator of the State Civil Registry System, Roberto Barreto Bohórquez.

Irving Martínez and Kevin Arrazola became the first, of the more than 40 same-sex couples, to get married at this wedding. Without fear and with a lot of effort, these young people from the municipality of Tlapehuala, Guerrero, located 374 kilometers from Acapulco, were able to fulfill their dream of getting married after four years of relationship. “I feel very happy, I’m a little shocked because I still don’t know how to express my joy,” said Kevin, who assured that now his next step is to start a family.

For Alma and Adriana, not everything was joyful from the beginning, as they were on the verge of not being able to finalize their marriage since Alma’s physical condition, who is in a wheelchair, made it difficult for them to arrive. “We had the illusion of getting married since last year and due to whatever situation we couldn’t, and we found out yesterday that we were already getting married today and we were about to not come,” said Alma. Faced with this situation, Barreto Bohórquez decided to have an individual wedding where, in addition to signing the act, they could also toast and throw the bouquet as in any other marriage. The women reported that they had to ask for a car to help them get there and “we were late. We had to turn around with the wheelchair and they improvised a wedding for us because we weren’t enough anymore, but I feel happy, ”she said.

The stories of couples are becoming more modern since many of them arose through social networks, as was the case with Azalea and Lore, who, despite being 17 years apart, suddenly decided to officially join their lives, as they made the decision just last Thursday. “I must say that they married me, they looked at me and I let myself be loved,” said Azalea with humor, who was enthusiastic about this new stage in her life. For them, having these equal marriages in the State is a very big step, since the fight is just beginning and they assure that this is the result of the social pressure that can exist at certain times. However, they assured that this “should not stop there”, since the Gender Identity Law is still missing and attention to hate crimes against women and homosexual people that have not been clarified.

Guerrero became in October 2022 the penultimate Mexican State to admit equal marriagesbeing Mexico City the first place to approve them in 2010. Although in past years equalitarian weddings were held in Acapulco, these were not legally so they have been annulled, leaving couples vulnerable before the law.