Gay Couples Cross the Border for Love - NAM

Gay Couples Cross the Border for Love - NAM

Gay Couples Cross the Border for Love

La Opinión, News Report, Claudia Núñez, Translated by Elena Shore, Posted: Oct 04, 2007

Editor's Note: American same-sex couples, who used to travel to Canada and other countries to get married, now have a new wedding destination: Mexico. Spanish-language newspaper La Opinión examines the phenomenon that has many gay couples crossing the southern border.

LOS ANGELES – Among the thousands of dreams that cross the border every day, there is a new and controversial one: that of same-sex couples seeking a space where their union is legally recognized -- in Mexico.

The phenomenon is not new, experts say. Up until several years ago, dozens of American couples traveled to the other side of the world, from Spain to South Africa, with the sole dream that in some corner of the world their union could be legal.

Now, this dream is closer than ever, and only requires crossing the southern border.

Since the border state of Coahuila became the first and only state in Mexico to approve same-sex civil unions on Jan. 11, more American couples are now seeking refuge under this law.

Current statistics show that of the 55 civil unions, or “pactos civiles” as they are called in Mexico, that have been performed in Coahuila, three were foreign couples and a fourth was between a Mexican and an American citizen.

“Considering that it’s a new institution and that the approval of gay unions has not been a peaceful struggle in this state, the response has been impressive. The couples – not just Mexicans, but foreigners too – have been able to find in this region an alternative way to legalize their union,” Armando Luna Canales, undersecretary of legal affairs for the government of Coahuila, told La Opinión.

The fact that some American states don’t recognize same-sex unions, or their limited legal validity, is the primary motive that leads gay American couples to get married in other countries.

However, there are also sentimental reasons that, in the majority of cases, have as much or more influence as the legal questions.

For Jason Howe, a resident of Southern California, the “domestic partnership” agreement enforced in California leaves much to be desired with respect to what he and his partner consider to be a true marriage, so he plans to formalize their union on the other side of the border.

“Since my partner and I signed the domestic partnership contract offered in California, we got to thinking, 'Is this really what we want?' From the moment we opened the door at the secretary of state’s office in Sacramento, we found out that in this country we’re simply carrying out a formality, filling out paperwork as cold as going to get a driver’s license at the DMV,” he said.

“We didn’t know that Mexico offered this option. We had always thought that we could go to Spain to have our wedding,” he added.

Howe dreams of having a more intimate and romantic ceremony, an option that California does not offer gay couples.

“In Coahuila, civil unions are carried out with as much affection as any other marriage ceremony. We know that for them, like for any couple that loves each other, the union is more than the legal process. They are looking for laws and for the world to recognize and respect their love,” said Luna Canales.

Those who sign the civil union contract have the right to inherit, define and administer their wealth, social security, and alimony.

The process costs approximately $150, which covers the fees of the civil registrar and the notary that certifies the union.

The civil unions performed in a neighboring country are legally valid in at least 19 American states, according to legal expert Jennifer Pizer of the organization Lambda (Legal Defense and Education Fund), which represents gay couples from California to Washington, D.C.

“What’s happening in Mexico is a very interesting phenomenon that reflects modern life,” she said. “Although we haven’t yet seen a legal case in which a couple (in the United States) demanded the same rights they got in Mexico, we are based on laws. These unions are valid and respected in California and in any other state that recognizes the civil rights of same-sex unions.”

As in California, Mexican civil unions cannot be called marriage, but a new bill to be introduced next month in the Coahuila state Congress could grant the state’s civil unions the legal status of marriage.

According to Coahuila’s undersecretary of legal affairs, this amendment is very likely to pass and, beginning next year, gay marriage will be openly practiced in the Mexican state of Coahuila.

“For us, as Hispanics," said Jesús Nava, a gay rights activist in Southern California, "it is very important for them to allow us to unite in marriage. It’s a value we grew up with, not just a whim, and if we have to travel halfway across the world in order to achieve it, we will – because it will be worth it to know that in some corner of the world, my partner is legally my husband."

Up to now, only Canada, Belgium, Spain, South Africa and the Netherlands legally approve marriage between same-sex couples.

In 2005, California approved a law that extended the institution of marriage to same-sex couples, but the law was vetoed by the state governor and 61 percent of the electorate under the argument that the definition of marriage is a union between a man and a woman.