Same-sex marriage now legal in all of Mexico after final state votes in favor

Marriage equality is now legal in all parts of Mexico after the legislators of Tamaulipas voted in favour of it. Tamaulipas was the last of 32 states in Mexico to legalize same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports.

Supporters cheered, “Yes, we can!” as 23 yes votes were read out. Two members of parliament abstained from voting.

The process to make same-sex marriage legal everywhere in Mexico took 12 years.

The president of Mexico’s federal high court embraced the moment as federal marriage rights and protections were offered to all Mexicans.

The president of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation, Arturo Zaldívar, said on Twitter: “The whole country shines with a huge rainbow. Long live the dignity and rights of all people. Love is love.”

With this vote, joins the following Latin countries who have all made same-sex marriages legal; Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire, French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, Sint Maarten, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

Slovenia recently became the first country in Eastern Europe to legalize same-sex marriage.