Mexico seeks to legalize same-sex marriage

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Tuesday local time signed an initiative to pave the way for same-sex couples to marry in accordance with Mexican law.

The initiative included amending Mexico's constitution and federal civil code to allow marriage without any discrimination "based on ethnic or national origin, disability, social status, health conditions, religion, gender or sexual preference."

The Mexican government is seeking "to ensure that in our country, each and every Mexican, regardless of their social status, religion, sexual preference or ethnicity, has the opportunity to be fully realized and be happy," Nieto said in a statement.

The president added that the government is advancing the "tools" and "instruments of legal order" to allow the legal recognition of same-sex marriage.

In Mexico, same-sex marriage is recognized in certain states, although it is explicitly banned in the southeastern state of Yucatan. The legal ceremony is also recognized in the nation's capital after Mexico City legalized same-sex marriage in 2009.

"In our country, there cannot be those who in some states or entities have certain rights and not others," Nieto noted.

Mexico's Supreme Court in 2015 ruled that same-sex couples have the right to seek a court injunction against state laws prohibiting gay marriage, according to the Washington-based Pew Research Center.

Though the 2015 ruling did not legalize same-sex marriage across the nation, it provided a legal route for couples to circumvent the local regulations of the institution.