Marriage Equality Now Legal Across All of Mexico

In Mexico, marriage equality is officially extended to everybody across the nation, regardless of where they live. The enactment of marriage equality represents the successful completion of a process that took more than 12 years.

Tamaulipas legalized marriages between same-sex partners when its legislators voted in favor of the measure Wednesday night, making it the last among the country's 32 states to do so, the Associated Press reports.

There were 23 votes in favor of this amendment to the state's Civil Code, 12 opposed, and two abstentions.

Supporters cheered, "Yes, we can!" according to the AP.

As a result of an animated debate on the measure that lasted for a long time, legislators were forced to move their seats at one point to allow voting to occur after the discussion was complete.

The president of Mexico's federal high court celebrated the change in the final state's laws to extend federal marriage rights and protections to all Mexican people.

"The whole country shines with a huge rainbow. Long live the dignity and rights of all people. Love is love," Arturo Zaldivar tweeted.

Similar legislation allowed all couples in Guerrero to wed a day earlier.

The country's supreme court ruled in 2015 that state laws that prohibited non-heterosexual marriages were unconstitutional. However, some states have been taking several years to implement the ruling, the AP reports.

The recently ratified marriage equality laws in several states, including Mexico, Sonora, and Sinaloa, have represented a long-awaited sign of progress in this country, which has long been known for its gender-based violence.

The first locale to implement marriage equality in Mexico was its capital, Mexico City, in 2009.