First same-sex couple marries in Tijuana

Two Tijuana residents have become the first same-sex couple to be legally married in Baja California’s largest city.

Designer Luis Vargas, 48, and businessman Michael Bujazán, 71, held a news conference Monday to announce their marriage last Wednesday in a private civil ceremony. The pair said officials at Tijuana City Hall initially declined their request for marriage, on the grounds that the Baja California constitution stipulates that marriage can only be between a man and woman. But after 11 months — and judicial orders requiring the civil registry officials to perform the ceremony — the pair prevailed.

The couple said they have been together for nearly 14 years. “I would have married him the moment I met him,” Bujazán said of his spouse, adding that “this is a battle that we could not have won 14 years ago.”

The marriage comes six months after two Mexicali residents became the first same-sex couple to be married in the state following a battle with municipal authorities that lasted more than two years.

In June, the Mexican Supreme Court ruled that it is discriminatory and a violation of Mexico’s constitution to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, while not explicitly stating that same-sex unions are legal.

José Luis Márquez, attorney for both the Mexicali and Tijuana couples, said his clients’ marriages are “a triumph for all citizens.”

sandra.dibble@sduniontribune.com